Children die in Delhi slum fire

The fire is thought to have been started by faulty wiring

At least four children have been killed after a fire swept through a suburban slum in the Indian city of Delhi, destroying thousands of homes, local police said.

Residents are attempting to salvage what remains of their belongings

More than 70 people have been injured in the blaze in the industrial suburb of Noida, and thousands of homes have been destroyed.

The number of dead is expected to rise as many of those injured were in a critical condition, senior police official R B Singh told Reuters news agency.

The fire comes only a week after a similar blaze in Bombay destroyed more than 1,000 homes and left thousands homeless.

Illegal electricity

The fire was also halted only a few yards away from a petrol station, Reuters reported.

Police are still searching the scene for survivors and firefighters are still dousing the remains of several shanty houses.

The fire is thought to have started after faulty wiring from electrical systems - used by dwellers to illegally siphon off electricity in the slum - short-circuited and set fire to cooking gas, the Associated Press news agency reported.

"I saw the fire coming very fast towards us and took my daughter and grandchildren and ran," Noida resident Gorachand Saha told Reuters.

Residents are still attempting to salvage what is left of their belongings from the fire.

Thousands of Noida slum dwellers, many of them labourers and domestic workers, are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, police said.

Residents live without water, electricity and other basic amenities.