SHANGLA: Over 20 people suffered burn injuries and 22 houses were gutted when fire broke out in Kas rural area of Shangla on Thursday.

According to Alpuri police, the fire broke out in the house of one Narsai on Thursday evening in Kas Kallay due to short-circuit which engulfed 22 houses and reduced to ashes household items worth millions of rupees.

Pakistan Red Crescent Society’s local head Jamal Hasnain said that 20 people received burn injuries and were taken to the district headquarters hospital, Alpuri.

The local people and volunteers took part in the rescue work. The rescue workers were facing hardship as it was dark and there was no access to the village for fire tenders.

The people whose houses were gutted included Narsai, Wahid, Ghani, Daulat Mand, Rahat Munir, Luqman, Mohabat Gul, Saifoor, Fazal Wahid, Umar Wahid, Saleem Khan, Shaukat Ali and others.

Waheed Akhter, a resident of the area, told this scribe that most of the houses were made of wood which caught fire within minutes and the intensity of fire was very high.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident a house was gutted at Ranyal area when fire broke due to electric short-circuit. Local police said that the two-room house was completely gutted. The local people participated in the rescue work.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2017