Houses gutted in fire in Pangi village

Bhanu Lohumi 

Tribune News service

Shimla, May 20

Multiple-storey houses were gutted in devastating fire that broke out at Pangi village, about 500 metres from Chechering Nagas Devta Temple, late last night.

The fire, which broke out at 1.30 am, spread fast to the adjoining building and local villagers rushed to put out the fire.

The fire tenders could not reach the spot as there was no road accessibility.

The villagers rued that they tried calling the fire station at Reckong Peo but the phone was not working.

However, the quick response team (QRT) reached the spot in an hour and helped the locals to extinguish the fire. No loss of human life was reported but property worth crores was destroyed.

The victims whose houses were completely gutted included Netar Singh, Praveen Kumar, Kishan Bhagat, Hem Chand, all residents of Pangi at Kalpa in Kinnaur.

House of Subash Chand suffered partial loss while 15 apple trees of Budh Bahadur were burnt in the fire. The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained. The estimated damage is expected to be Rs 1 crore, officials of Kinnaur district administration said adding that an immediate relief of Rs 7,500 has been released to the victims.