SHANGLA: A house and three shops were gutted in two separate fire incidents in Alpuri tehsil of Shangla district here on Saturday.

Rescue 1122 Shangla spokesperson Rasool Khan told Dawn that the fire incidents occurred in Lilonai and Malak Khel Kotkay areas, gutting a house and three shops.

He said that in the first incident fire broke out in a room of a house owned by Syasat Ali on the Kass Road in Lilonai, engulfing the entire house within no time.

The rescue official said that after receiving the information, a firefighters’ team reached the area and started efforts with the help of local people to extinguish the fire. He, however, said that all the household items were gutted in the incident.

In another incident, fire erupted in a woodwork shop, which also engulfed the nearby two shops in Malakkhel Kotkay area of Alpuri on Friday night.

Local people tried hard to put out the blaze, but failed, and then contacted a rescue team, which extinguished the fire.

The rescue spokesperson said that a huge quantity of wood stored in the shop and machines was destroyed.

He said that wood increased the intensity of the blaze.

Mohammad Sharif, whose woodwork shop was destroyed in the blaze, said his loss was estimated to be over Rs2 million.

He demanded compensation so that not only he could rebuild his shop, but also pay back the amount he had received from several consumers to make different items.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2022