Six persons were killed and about 300 hutments gutted in a fire that tore through a slum cluster near Geeta Colony in East Delhi late Monday night, fire department officials said.

"Six persons were killed in the fire," Santosh Singh, deputy fire officer said.

The fire, described as being of a 'serious' nature, broke out at 10:00 pm in the slum cluster in Geeta Colony area along the banks of river Yamuna. Forty-five fire tenders were rushed and firemen managed to douse the flames after a 100-minute battle, they said. The cause of the fire was not known yet.

The residents of the slums had fled their homes to safety along the adjoining Vikas Marg. Police officials had blocked traffic on the Vikas Marg to make fire fighting operations easier.