Commercial market with 60 shops burns to ashes

DIR: A commercial market, comprising 60 shops, and a house in Tarpatar locality of the Usheri Dara in Upper Dir were burnt to ashes when a portion of the market caught fire early Monday morning, locals and police sources said.

A portion of the market caught fire that engulfed the entire market at. The cause of the fire couldn’t be ascertained.  The local people rushed to the site after the panicked watchman fired gunshots into air. Up to 60 shops including grocery stores, cloth shops, restaurants, were burnt. A two-room house was also burnt.

The affected people alleged that they had been making calls to police station, but they did not bother to receive the calls.  They said the fire-brigade vehicles reached the site after two hours.  The affectees claimed the fire could have been controlled had the fire-brigade vehicles reached on time.