Fire guts three houses, cowshed in Kupwara’s Karnah; elderly man dies of cardiac arrest

Kupwara, Jan 11: A massive fire broke out in Kandi Karnah area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district during the intervening night of January 10 and 11, gutting three residential houses and a cowshed, officials said on Sunday.

Officials said that the gutted houses belonged to Khalid Ahmad Qurashi, Danish Ahmad Qurashi, and Farooq Ahmad Qurashi, all residents of Kandi Karnah. A cowshed owned by Danish Ahmad Qurashi was also destroyed in the blaze, resulting in the death of four cattle, they said.

During the incident, an elderly man identified as Abdul Majeed Qurashi (80) collapsed after reportedly seeing his son’s house completely destroyed in the fire. He was rushed to Sub-District Hospital Tangdar, where doctors declared him brought dead, they added.

Fire tenders from Tangdar, assisted by the police, Army personnel, and local residents, brought the fire under control. The cause of the fire is suspected to be an electric short circuit, officials said, adding that further assessment of losses is underway. —(KNC)