House gutted in fire in Bhaderwah
Bhaderwah: A major fire broke out at a house in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district on Wednesday, killing cattle and damaging property worth lakhs of rupees, officials said.
The house owner, Krishna Devi, 70, escaped unhurt. She was alone at the home as her son and daughter-in-law had gone to a relative's place to attend a wedding.
The fire broke out at the kitchen of the two-storey building made of dry timber wood and soon engulfed the cattle shed where four cows and six sheep were kept.
The woman raised an alarm, following which her neighbours tried to douse the flames and called the police and civil administration.
Gutasa panchayat head Dharam Singh said, "The house was located at a distance from the village and when I received the call, we ran to the spot and saw everything had turned into ashes".
The woman's son Santosh, who is a daily wage labourer, has appealed to the district administration to provide them food and shelter.
He said, "I have lost everything, there was Rs 1.5 lakh cash from my loan, 4 tola gold, four silver bangles, 90 steel sheets, 90 desi blankets, 10 Korean blankets and all our documents".
When contacted, Additional District Collectorate (Bhaderwah) Rakesh Kumar said the preliminary reports suggested that the house caught fire due to a short circuit.
"I have asked the Bhaderwah tehsildar to submit a report so that we can provide an instant relief to the family," he said.