8 houses gutted in Shaheed Gunj blaze

Srinagar, Mar 22: At least eight houses were gutted in a fire incident at Shaheed Gunj area in the summer capital today leaving several families shelterless.

Fire and Emergency services officials said that the fire started from a house and soon spread to adjoining structures in the congested locality.

The officials said they received the fire call around 6 am and rushed multiple firefighting units to douse off the flames.

“Eight houses were gutted in the incident that occurred in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The houses were closely packed together, due to which fire spread quickly to the adjacent houses. We had pressed fire tender from Headquarters and five other fire stations to ensure that fire is kept in control,” said an official, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

The fire left at least 12 families without shelter. The victims said that they come from economically weak families and have lost everything in the fire.

“My daughter was to be married in some months, and the fire gutted all marriage-related items. I had collected these items by working hard for my daughter’s marriage. In addition to that, my husband is ailing, and I have to foot the medical expenses. I want to appeal to everyone to provide all the help as it is hard for me to rebuild amid the financial crunch,” a fire victim said.

The locals in the area said that most of the families had been left with nothing and appealed to people to come forward for help.

“All of these families are from humble backgrounds, and amid the holy month of Ramadhan, people should come forward for help,” said a local.

The fire victims said that they were offering morning prayers when the fire engulfed their houses. They said they were left with nothing except for the clothes that they were wearing. The victims appealed for help so that they could rebuild their houses.