North Waziristan Agency: Inferno in arms store leaves four dead

Locals demand fire brigade service, say the lives could have been saved.

MIRANSHAH: Four tribesmen were killed in an explosion following a conflagration inside an arms and ammunition store in Mirali tehsil bazaar, North Waziristan Agency on Thursday.

The explosion took place inside the shop of Sher Azam Khan Mehsud, claiming his and the lives of three others present inside the store at the time, said an official of the political administration.

He said the nature of the explosion was still unknown as the fire had destroyed the shop along with other nearby stores.

Locals rushed to the site for rescue work and to extinguish the fire which was put out 15 minutes later, but the four tribesmen’s charred bodies were recovered. The official said identities of the other three tribesmen could not yet be ascertained.

After the incident, tribesmen in Mirali demanded the political administration officials to provide them a fire brigade, adding if the service was available the tribesmen’s lives could have been saved and valuable property protected.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2013.