Handwara: About a dozen structures were razed to the ground after a mysterious fire broke out in Handwara area of Kupwara district early Tuesday morning, reports said.

According to the police, fire broke out at Haril Mawar in Handwara area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Witnesses said that the fire broke out in the village around 11 am.

Twelve structures, including six residential houses, ten non-residential houses, cowsheds and a few fruit godown were reportedly destroyed by the fire.

According to the locals, the fire broke out due an electric short circuit in one of the residential houses and it spread rapidly as most of the houses in the village are made up of wood.

The houses and other property gutted in the fire belonged to Mohammad Ashraf War, Ghulam Qadir War, Habibullah Wani, Khurshid Ahmed War, Abdul Kabir Wani, Ghulam Mohammad War, Abdul Majeed War and Bashir Ahmed War.

Notably, the locals have lauded the efforts of the timely action of fire services and other civil and police administration for dousing the flames before it could have led to further devastation.

Locals said that five fire tenders were put into operation which culminated at around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, MLA Langate, Er Rashid has directed the Kupwara district administration to provide all facilities of shelter and assistance to the people affected by the blaze on war footing in view of the approaching winter.

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