Six shops, fuel station gutted in Kohistan

MANSEHRA: About six shops and a fuel station were gutted after a heavy fire caused by a gas cylinder explosion at a hotel in the Dubair area of Lower Kohistan on Monday, sources said.

“Five general stores, a fruit shop and a petrol pump have been gutted in the blaze, which caused a financial loss of over Rs 5 million to affected traders,” Abdul Samad Khan, the investigation officer at the Dubair Police Station, told reporters.

The fire, which erupted at a hotel because of the gas cylinder explosion at the central bazaar situated at the Karakoram Highway, rapidly engulfed the wooden shops and petrol pump. “The goods and other items of all the general stores, the fruit shop and petrol were burnt,” confirmed the official.

The general stores of Gulzaman, Noorur Rehman, and Mohammad Nadeem Shah Faisal, fruit shop of Azit Khan and petrol pump of Jehangir Khan were destroyed in the fire.The blaze was put out after firefighters rushed to the scene from Pattan, the district headquarters of Lower Kohistan.

The affected traders appealed to Chief Minister Mehmood Khan to announce a compensation package for them.It would be worth mentioning here that Dubair town was completely washed away in flash floods in 2011 after which traders were carrying out business in wooden shops.