LUCKNOW: Bodies of two minor girls were recovered during an early morning search operation on Thursday, hours after a devastating fire razed over 280 shanties in Sector 11 of Vikas Nagar on Wednesday evening.The deceased were identified as Shruti (2) and her two-month-old sister, daughters of Satish, a resident of Kashipurwa village in Barabanki district. According to police, the bodies were found in the debris when teams resumed intensive search operations at daybreak on Thursday, after the blaze had been brought under control late in the night.Station House Officer of Vikas Nagar, Alok Kumar Singh, confirmed the recovery, stating that police and fire personnel conducted a meticulous combing of the gutted settlement in the early hours to trace any missing persons. It was during this operation that the charred remains of the two minors were discovered, indicating that they were likely trapped inside their shanty and could not escape the rapidly spreading flames.The fire broke out around 5:30 pm on Wednesday and quickly engulfed the densely packed cluster of makeshift huts, largely inhabited by migrant labourers from nearby districts and other states. Within minutes, the blaze turned into a massive inferno, leaving little time for residents to salvage belongings or ensure everyone had escaped.Firefighting efforts were severely hampered by a series of loud explosions caused by over 50 LPG cylinders kept inside the shanties. The blasts intensified the flames and created panic, forcing both residents and responders to maintain distance at intervals, thereby delaying containment.Initially, authorities had reported no casualties as most residents managed to flee. However, concerns grew overnight as some families reported missing members, prompting the police to launch a fresh search operation at dawn.Police have conducted inquest proceedings and sent the bodies for postmortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death. Officials said a detailed investigation is underway to reconstruct the sequence of events and examine possible lapses.District administration further stated that the settlement had come up illegally on land belonging to the Awas Vikas Parishad. In the aftermath of the tragedy, district administration officials have initiated relief and rehabilitation measures, including temporary shelter, food distribution, and assessment of losses suffered by the affected families.
