Sanitation tragedy: Six dozen kiosks burnt in inferno

MANSEHRA: Over six dozen kiosks were burnt to ashes while a dozen other shops suffered partial damage, when a fire broke out in Shinkiari Bazaar on the Karakoram Highway, on Tuesday afternoon. The fire spread from a garbage dump and took over the entire bazaar. The owners estimated a loss of Rs150 million. The garbage had been piling up so the shopkeepers had to set it alight to make space, said witnesses and police. At least 73 stalls selling fruit and vegetables, fertilizer, poultry, beef and groceries were completely destroyed. People of the area and shopkeepers made an effort to extinguish the fire but they could not save a single shop. According to Mureed, one of the owners of the damaged shops, the fire engines arrived after two hours but it was too late by then. The angry shopkeepers threw rocks at the fire engines as they accused the firefighters of coming late. Wazir Khan, another owner of a damaged shop, lost fruit worth Rs300,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.