Fire safety: Five houses burnt to ashes in Muzaffarabad

Personal belongings worth thousands destroyed, newlywed couple injured

MANSEHRA: A newlywed couple suffered minor injuries while damage worth thousands of rupees was caused when five houses, in separate incidents, were completely gutted in different parts of Mansehra, police said on Monday.

Gul Muhammad, a resident of Mohallah Chokna Malkal, in Dhodiyal, told Shinkari police that he and his family were having dinner at their home on Sunday evening when a fire broke out in one of the rooms. Before they knew it, the fire spread and engulfed the entire house.

With no fire brigade in the area, the blaze soon spread to three neighboring houses of Muhammad Salim, Niaz Muhammad and Munawar.

Locals tried to douse the flames themselves, but their efforts were fruitless and the blaze completely incinerated, the four houses. The house owners lamented that they had lost their homes and personal belongings worth hundreds of thousands of rupees.

Officials have been unable to determine the cause of the fire so far.

In a separate incident, a fire incident was reported from Mohalla Latifabad in village Battal where the house of Akbar Khan caught fire due to short circuit. The five-room house was completely gutted.

According to police, the fire broke out in the kitchen at around 9pm on Sunday which also engulfed the room of a newly married couple, Naeem and his wife who were slightly injured. There was also considerable damage to the household items.

However, locals managed to extinguish the fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2016.