Disaster strikes: Three dead, one injured as tent catches fire

The family forgot to extinguish the fire before going to bed.

GILGIT: At least three girls died and one was injured after a tent they were camped in caught fire early Saturday, officials said.

The incident occurred in Gaise Bala, a remote valley of Chilas that was struck by lightning this summer, killing 55 people and leaving many others injured.

Scores of families had to take shelter in tents after the floods swept away dozens of houses in the valley.

“The injured girl is in a critical condition and the other three girls died when their tent caught fire,” Sibtain Ahmed, the deputy commissioner of Diamer told The Express Tribune. He said that the family living in the tent forgot to extinguish the fire before going to bed at night, and as a result, the camp caught fire.

A resident of the valley told The Express Tribune that some relatives of the girls had already lost their lives in the floods that struck Gilgit-Baltistan in September this year. According to him, people in the area living in tents were forced to keep the fire burning throughout the night to provide them with warmth to counter the freezing winds as temperatures fell as low as -10 degrees.

The chief secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan Saifullah Chattha flew to the valley to meet the aggrieved families, said the official. The family of the injured girl was given Rs100,000 for her immediate treatment.

The official added that the injured girl had been shifted to Islamabad for timely treatment.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2010.