3 Bangladeshi tourists die in Dal Lake blaze

Srinagar, Nov 11: The bodies of three tourists from Bangladesh were recovered from the debris in Dal Lake where in a devastating fire incident on Saturday five houseboats and over a dozen other structures
including residential houses were gutted.

Police identified them as Anindaya Kowshal, Das Gupta, and Muhammad Moinud, all from Bangladesh.
The bodies were found hours after several houseboats on the lake were reduced to ashes in a massive fire early Saturday morning.
Special teams of the Fire and Emergency Services Department, who rushed to the scene to control the blaze, took immediate action.

The financial toll of the disaster is expected to be substantial, with preliminary estimates reaching crores of rupees.
The State Disaster Response Force personnel, who were clearing the debris from the site, recovered the bodies Saturday evening.
“We recovered three charred bodies from the debris,” Senior Superintendent of Police, SDRF, Atul Sharma told Greater Kashmir. “Identifying them was difficult.”
The tourists who have died were staying in Safina Houseboat and were identified after hectic efforts by the Police.

Fire and Emergency Services officials said that the fire started at 5:16 am near Ghat No 9 and 10 and fire tenders were pressed into service to control the fire.
“Initially we moved three fire boats and later seven more,” they said. “The tourists and other people living in that area were rescued.”
The gutted houseboats included Safina, New Safina, Royal Safina, Young Gulshan, Lala Rukh, and Khar Palace.

According to the officials, the loss to the property is estimated to be several crores of rupees.
Besides the officials of Fire and Emergency Services, teams of SDRF and Police rescued the tourists and resident, besides making efforts to douse the fire.
The incident created panic in entire Dal Lake.

“There were apprehensions that the fire might speared and there was panic,” a senior Police official said. “With the untiring efforts the fire was brought under control.”
The official said an investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire was underway.
“The senior officials visited the area and we are ascertaining,” they said.

Reports said that as soon as fire broke out, the tourists and other people living in houseboats fled to Dal Lake banks and returned once the fire was brought under control.
The victims have appealed to the authorities to compensate them, besides making arrangements for them in the backdrop of coming harsh winter.

POLICE VERSION

A massive fire broke out in the houseboats along Ghat No 9 in Dal Lake area Saturday morning.
The conflagration quickly spread and engulfed five houseboats Safeena, Sabreena, Young Gulshan, Lala Rukh, and Khar Palace.
Seven residential huts and neighbouring houses in the vicinity were also gutted.

Moreover, three tourists from Bangladesh Anindaya Kowshal, Das Gupta and Muhammad Moinud, who were staying in houseboat Safeena lost their lives in the devastating fire.
Eight people staying in these houseboats were rescued and evacuated to safety through timely and valiant action by joint efforts of Police in Srinagar, SDRF, Tourist Police, F&ES, and civilians.
In this regard, a fire incident report has been lodged at Police Station Ram Munshi Bagh and investigation initiated.