Srinagar, Nov 04 (HS): Two scrap collectors were killed and around 80 temporary shelters were gutted in a massive fire at Durbal in Bemina on the outskirts of Srinagar during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, officials said.

According to the Fire and Emergency Services Department, a distress call about the fire reached the control room at around 12:23 am. The flames, officials said, had already spread across the entire settlement of makeshift shelters, made of tarpaulin and wood, by the time the fire service was alerted, which made the firefighting operation difficult. An empty poultry farm and a tipper truck were also damaged.

Fire tenders from the JVC and Rawalpora fire stations were rushed to the spot, and more tenders and water bowsers were brought in from the department’s headquarters at Batamaloo as the scale of the blaze became clear. Police from the Bemina station and the SDPO Bemina, as well as local residents, helped the fire crews and the rescue effort.

The blaze was brought under control after several hours. In a search of the debris, firefighters found two bodies. Officials identified the deceased as Mohammad Noor Alam (27), son of Abdul Wahab, a native of Delhi who was staying at Durbal, and Al Ameen (16), son of Mohammad Rafi, also from Delhi and staying in Kupwara. Both worked as scrap collectors in the area, officials said. The bodies were handed over to the police after forensic proceedings.

Residents of the shelters, who are non-locals, told Hindusthan Samachar they were asleep when screams woke them and they saw flames all around. They said they did not know how the fire started. They were seen trying to save their families and essential belongings from the burning shelters.

Local residents said the non-local families have lived at the site for the past 10 to 15 years. They said they did not know the cause of the fire, but that it spread quickly because of gas cylinders that exploded repeatedly amid the flames, and the blasts were heard again and again. The fire was so intense that its flames were visible from far away, they said.

Officials said the cause of the fire is not yet known and is being investigated. The firefighting operation was coordinated by Deputy Director Command Srinagar Dr Aqib Hussain Mir and Mobilising Officer Aijaz Ahmad Shah, along with the City and Headquarters fire officers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Zahoor Hussain Bhat