Valuables worth millions of rupees destroyed in house fire
Soon after the houses caught fire, Chitral Scouts, police and the local people reached the spot and put out the flames after about five hours. Local residents said as the houses were located in narrow streets, the fire fighting vehicles could not reach the spot and hence the delay. Household items valuing millions of rupees were also burnt in the flames. However, no one was injured. The inmates of the houses were accommodated in tents provided by the local administration. The frequent incidents of fires mainly due to electric short circuiting have been on the rise in different parts of Chitral in the recent years. It is believed that poor quality wires used in the houses are the main cause of the short-circuiting fires. As there are no facility of firefighting in villages and the firefighters in main towns are poorly equipped and trained to put out the flames, people have lost their houses along with valuables worth millions of rupees. –Syed Nazir Hussain Shah]]>