KARACHI - About 300 houses of a shanty town were gutted in a huge inferno while a child was also burnt to death, in katchi abadi, located in Block 10, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, in the limits of Dalmia police Chowki of Aziz Bhatti Road. Several persons were injured in the incident. According to the reports, fire engulfed a katchi abadi known as Shanti Nagar. The residents of Shanti Nagar said fire erupted in a house and suddenly spilled over across the katchi abadi and all 300 huts were gutted within a few minutes. 'We immediately informed the police and Fire Brigade Department but the fire tenders reached the spot after an hour of the incident when almost all the houses were gutted, they said. The wounded were shifted to the Burns Ward of Civil Hospital where doctors pronounced the death of a seven-year-old child Danish Abid while admitting several burnt victims including 45 year-old Abdul Rashid, Akmal 40, Ghulam Nabi, 40, Fida Hussain and 3-year-old Natasha. The residents of the area alleged that delay in arrival of fire tenders was the cause of such a massive loss but Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Ehtisham-uddin said they had immediately started rescue operation. He said that fire erupted due to negligence while illegal connections of electricity (kunda) were also responsible. Nine fire tenders and one water browser took part to douse the fire within two hours. People on the scene demanded compensation from the government. An elderly man said that his sister was to be married in 10 days and dowry worth 0.3 million was gutted in the fire. The victims of Shanti Nagar belong to Southern Punjab and doing laborious jobs in Karachi. Police said the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained but witnesses said that fire erupted in a hut and later caught the whole area because of the houses were fabric made. Police pointed out that over 3,000 people were residing in the said katchi abadi while the burnt child was alone at home when fire erupted. People demanded immediate compensation to all victims and also demanded an inquiry of the incident. It is pertinent to mention here that, three shops situated at Lunda Bazaar at M.A Jinnah Road were also gutted while fire tenders were rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. During the fire, 50-year-old shopkeeper Nawab Khan was electrocuted when he trying to douse the fire. Fire Brigade officials said the cause of fire could not ascertained, while goods worth millions were gutted.