Srinagar, March 31 : Twenty-two houses were gutted in a devastating midnight blaze in Srinagar city, in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Massive property was damaged and four persons including a firefighter were injured in a massive blaze at Gata- Colony Noor Bagh area of the city.“Twenty-two houses in which 33 families were residing gutted in the massive blaze,” a fire-service official said adding that besides a firefighter, three individuals were injured in the incident.
The injured civilians have been identified as Manzoor Ahmed, Tahir Ahmed, and Tanveer Ahmed.
Property worth crores were lost in the blaze, Shakeel Ahmed, a local said.
The victims talking to media men said that the huge loss happen due to restrictions as the Indian forces stopped them to reach in time on the incident place by which they would able to save and urged the administration to help them in their rehabilitation. —
Meanwhile, a residential house was also damaged in a fire incident at Rajouri kadal area of Srinagar
At least 7 shops were gutted in an overnight incident of fire that raged in the Zaina Kadal area of the old city last night.The officials of the Fire & Emergency Service told Excelsior that one shopping line, single-storied GCI sheet roofed was involved in the fire.
“In the shopping line, 7 shops dealing in cosmetic/ Hosiery items were involved in fire and sustained damage,” the officials said.
The locals said that the fire tenders took time to reach the spot because there is no adjacent fire station in the Zaina Kadal area.
“The damage is in crores and the same was furthered by the fact that both the roads leading to the market remain blocked due to the Indian paramilitary CRPF camp; the personnel of fire and emergency had to first clear the blockade and only after that they could reach the spot; that consumed over 10 minutes and by then, the damage was done,” Abdul Majeed, Mohalla Committee President said.
The locals also said that there is an absence of a fire station near the market and the one that was there at S.R. Gunj has been shifted.
“It is a business hub in the entire Srinagar city. But there are no adjoining fire stations even as one at S.R. Gunj has been shifted and that has deteriorated the entire situation,” said Nazir Ahmad Shah of Sher-e-Khas Traders Coordination Committee, while demanding immediate compensation to the victims.
While the officials said that cause of the fire was under police investigation, the locals said that the cause was an electric short circuit.