Bank branch among 50 structures destroyed in Kupwara blaze

Kupwara/April, 4: In a devastating fire incident, more than fifty structures including shops and residential houses were damaged in Awoora hamlet of North Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday night.
Eyewitnesses said fire emerged from a residential house that quickly engulfed not only the adjacent structures but also two lengthy L-Shaped markets.
Before the arrival of fire tenders, locals toiled hard to extinguish the fire, but all in vain. An official from Fire Emergency Department said that it took more than two hours to put out the fire. He said the cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. He added that two L-Shaped markets housing over 60 shops caught fire, destroying more than 38 shops completely while dozens of other structures suffered partial damages. “A Jammu Kashmir Bank branch also suffered damage. Besides shops, six residential houses also gutted in the fire,” he said.
A police official said that a formal case has been registered to know the causes of fire. “Property worth crores has been damaged,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials from District Administration rushed to spot to assess the situation. District Magistrate Kupwara directed officials to provide immediate relief to the fire victims.
The affected Owoora village is about 15 kms from the main Kupwara town. Its neighboring fire station is Trehgam which is at a distance of 10 kilometers.