More than 200 shacks were gutted in a massive fire in Jammu’s Trikuta Nagar area early on Monday, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying. The fire broke out in the Maratha cluster near Trikuta Nagar Railway Station around 1 am. High-intensity winds fuelled the flames and the fire spread rapidly, residents claimed.
Migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and some Rohingyas used to live in Maratha Mohalla, according to reports.
Samsul Aalam, a Rohingya Muslim, told ANI that 41 shacks belonged to Rohingya refugees. “Forty-one out of total 54 Rohingya jhuggis [huts] were reduced to ashes in the blaze,” he said. “People could not rescue anything because wind increased the intensity of the fire.”
Sarojni Devi from West Bengal, who lost all her belongings in the fire, said there were almost 500 huts in the area.
“After nearly an hour, fire brigades reached the site,” said local resident Ram Swaroop. “They tried to douse the flames but could not succeed.” The fire could not be doused quickly as gas cylinders and refreigerstors were exploding, he added.
The fire was doused after more than three hours, unidentified officials told PTI.
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