Students rescued as school catches fire in Balakot

MANSEHRA: Hundreds of students were rescued by the locals and traders when a prefabricated school building caught heavy fire in Balakot on Wednesday.

The fire, which erupted because of the electric short-circuit, prompted the locals to take to the streets and protest against the Tehsil Municipal Administration Balakot as its only fire-tender has been out of order for the last many weeks.

The fire, which broke out at one of the prefabricated classrooms caused a stampede at the Islamia Modern High School and College and locals rescued the students out of the classrooms amid a raging blaze.

“The members of the business community and locals rushed to the scene when the fire broke out and helped the students come out from their respective classrooms amid raging flames,” Mohammad Tahir Raja, patron-in-chief of traders body, told reporters.

He said the prefabricated structure was made of wooden and other inflammable materials and the fire engulfed it rapidly. However, he said that the students were rescued timely because of coordinated rescue efforts by the locals.

“The fire was extinguished after a hectic effort of over an hour as TMA Balakot fire tender couldn’t reach the scene,” said Raja.

The fire tenders of Rescue 1122 from Mansehra reached Balakot in 35 minutes and extinguished the fire.

The enraged traders and people chanted slogans against the Balakot TMA.

They demanded an inquiry against Tehsil Municipal Officer and other staff for their inability to cope with the situation.

The Balakot Assistant Commissioner, Hamid Khan, told reporters that an inquiry had been initiated against the TMA, which according to him had failed to put out the fire at the schools.

The Tehsil Municipal Officer, Azhar Naveed Khan, told reporters that a fire tender was moved to the scene after the incident and it took part in the operation.