Five houses gutted in fire

A fire that erupted under mysterious circumstances gutted at least five three-story houses in a village called Kanshian near Balakot on Tuesday.

According to local sources, the cause of the blaze could not be ascertained. They said it also partially damaged nearby homes.

Sources said the fire deprived several families of their hard-earned properties and now they are forced to live under the open sky.

The affectees including Noor Zaman, Shah Zaman Pasran Ghulam Nabi, Muhammad Javed, Nasir Hussain Pasran Abdur Raheem, Sardar Ashfaq, Bakhtiar Ahmed, and Kashif Shehzad said they lost millions of rupees worth of items besides their homes in the fire.

Locals put out the fire on their own and saved other houses in the neighbourhood from being gutted.

Meanwhile, the affectees have urged the authorities concerned to send aid at the earliest so that they could be able to stand on their feet again.

Locals of the area also called for efforts to rehabilitate the victims on a war footing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2023.