Safaid Gul’s eight-member family had moved into a tent in Gaise village, after the flooding destroyed their house and crops and killed their cattle.
A fire erupted inside their tent while they were asleep on December 10, and only Gul escaped unhurt. The temperature had plummeted to minus 15 degrees Celsius, prompting them to light a fire to stay warm.
Three of the girls died while they were being taken to the hospital, while nine-year-old Faiza succumbed to her burns in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, the next day.
Gul’s 33-year-old wife – Choglah – is struggling between life and death at PIMS. Doctors say that 60 per cent of her body is burnt.
Two of his daughters, are being treated at a hospital in Chilas, the town nearest to Gaise village.
Gul’s nephew Basharat Khan is in Islamabad to attend to the patients. “Safaid Gul is still in shock and unable to speak to people,” Khan told The Express Tribune by phone on Thursday.
“He [Gul] was not in his tent when the tragedy struck. He had gone to Gilgit in search of financial assistance,” Khan said.
Speaking about the treatment they were receiving at the hospital, Khan said that they are satisfied.
“We are grateful for receiving Rs100,000 immediately for treatment but I appeal to the government to treat the aggrieved family as flood-hit. The family is very poor and will regain their will to live if they are provided enough compensation as was announced for flood-hit people,” he further explained.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2010.
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