A fire raced through a neighborhood in the Brazilian jungle city of Manaus early on December 18, engulfing at least 600 wooden houses built on stilts due to seasonal floods
and sending thousands fleeing from their homes.
Houses on fire are
seen at Educando neighbourhood, a branch of the Rio Negro, a tributary to the
Amazon river, in the city of Manaus.
No deaths were reported from the blaze, which authorities
said may have been triggered by a pressure cooker explosion. Four people were
injured, and more than 2,000 people were forced to flee, Amadeu Soares, head of
the Amazonas state security ministry, told reporters at the scene.
Soares said preliminary
information from residents pointed to a kitchen incident involving an exploding
pressure cooker as the possible cause, though a full investigation was under
way.
Television images showed
desperate scenes of residents trying to flee through tight, labyrinthine
alleyways. Firefighters spent several hours trying to control the blaze, but
struggled to prevent houses from going up in flames.
Such fires are common in poorer neighborhoods and
slums in Brazil, where scant government planning during decades of rapid
urbanization resulted in informal settlements sprouting up, housing millions
who sought jobs in urban centers.
Source: NDO
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