Short circuit: 19 shops, 8 houses gutted in Shangla

SHANGLA:

Over 19 shops and eight houses were gutted when a fire erupted due to a short circuit in Puran tehsil of Bahlol Khel in Shangla on Saturday.

“The fire erupted at around 4:30pm but fortunately, no loss of life took place,” Puran tehsil nazim Raja Usman told the media. “However, investments of millions of rupees, including jewellery, were burnt to ashes because fire brigade could not reach the mountainous area in time.”

Later, a fire brigade was called from a nearby locality. The incident left locals in fear who tried to extinguish the fire along with the firefighters. However, the inferno spread further and firefighters were still trying to extinguish it till the filing of this report.

Those whose shops were caught by the inferno included Raja, Ibadullah, Bakh Taj and Naseb Wali.

One of the shopkeepers told The Express Tribune the shops were their only source of income.

“Since the fire brigade could not reach the area on time we lost everything,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.