At least 20 houses were gutted in a fire at hillside Chag village in Jammu & Kashmir’s remote Kishtwar district, officials said, adding there was no loss of human life or livestock.
Kishtwar’s senior police superintendent Shafqat Bhat said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. “Whether it was a short circuit in electricity wires or something else will be known during the investigation.” He added the village is nine km from the nearest motorable road.
“It takes a three-hour trek to reach the village. So, fire tenders could not be sent to the village. Police teams were rushed to the village for firefighting operations. Locals from adjoining areas also joined the operations but by then 20 houses were gutted.”
Houses in the Jammu & Kashmir mountainous areas are usually made of wood. Over 400 livestock were killed and 80 houses and as many other structures were damaged in a fire in Kishtwar’s Sukhnai village in October 2016.
Mehbooba Mufti, the then-chief minister, visited Sukhnai and announced a relief package.