8 houses gutted in Batamaloo

Srinagar, Mar 14: At least eight houses were gutted in a devastating fire Batamaloo area of Srinagar overnight, officials said on Monday.
In all 24 families were residing in these houses while at least 10 firemen were injured, the officials said. Some firefighters were beaten up also by locals as they demanded them to douse flames in their respective houses.
A Fire and Emergency Department official said that as soon as getting the information late last night, the fire tenders were rushed to Sheikh Hamza Colony Batamaloo. Eight houses were gutted before the firemen brought the flames under control in the congested locality, the official said. “We made best efforts to contain the fire and prevented its spread to other structures as the locality is hugely congested,” the official said.
At most 10 firefighters were injured and three of them received higher degree of harm, the official said. They have been identified as Mohammadd Ahsan Malla, Altaf Ahmad Rather and Akshay Sehgal. “Also people beat up a number of firemen as they pleaded and demanded firemen to douse off flames in particular house,” the official added.
Reports said that most of the houses damaged in the blaze were three-storey structures and in all 24 families living in them were affected.(GNS)