MITHI: A fire gutted as many as 36 mud-thatched houses in Aqil locality here on Friday.

The fire caused by an electricity short circuit in a house engulfed all adjacent houses within minutes, reducing the structures and all their contents to ashes.

The victims told media persons that they informed officials concerned soon after the fire broke out in a house and pleaded them to send fire tenders but they did not bother to pay heed to them until it spread to other houses.

They deplored that they could only save their own lives and the lives of their family members while all their valuables and other belongings were completely destroyed by the devastating fire.

The fire had had rendered homeless and penniless and they had no idea how would they be able to recover from this loss, they said. They appealed to high-ups of Sindh government to provide them adequate compensation for their loss.

Local leaders of Pakistan Peoples Party visited the destroyed structures and met with victims. They told media persons that they would take up the matter with the functionaries concerned for compensation for the losses caused by the fire.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2023