Village fire: Elderly man killed, eight houses gutted

Charred body of the deceased was recovered the next morning as there were no firefighters.

MANSEHRA: A man was burnt alive when his house, along with eight others, caught fire in a village of Jabori union council, police and eyewitnesses shared on Wednesday.

According to Shinkiari police, Muhammad Waheed of village Banda Gheesach said he and his four brothers were in Mansehra for a family wedding.

On Tuesday night a fire engulfed their residence along with eight other houses and two warehouses.

Waheed’s relative Mehfooz, who was an eyewitness, told the police the fire spread so quickly that it was difficult to save 71-year-old Ghulam Sarwar, Waheed’s father, who remained trapped inside and was burnt to death.

Other members of his family were able to safely get out of the house.

The charred remains of the elderly man was recovered on Wednesday morning as there were no firefighters in the vicinity and locals had to extinguish the inferno themselves, stated a police official.

Waheed informed that each of the nine houses, comprising three to four rooms, and two warehouses stuffed with grocery items, were reduced to ashes in the inferno.

Waheed estimated a loss of Rs20 million and demanded the government compensate the villagers. The police official could not ascertain the cause of the fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2014.