Govt orders
magisterial inquiry, DNA samples collected for identification
Tahir Mushtaq
RAMBAN, Jan 01: At least 10 persons were
killed and four others injured when a temporary shed in which they were staying
caught fire at Dhalwas near Nashri in Ramban district.
IGP Jammu Danish Rana said barracks of
labourers, who are working on a tunnel project in Talwas in Chanderkote belt of
Ramban, caught fire in the midnight. The
kitchen mess of the workers is adjacent to the burnt shed. He said 10 people
died in the blaze and four others were injured.
Police men from Chanderkot, Batote and
Ramban, State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) personnel, 23 bn Rashtriya Rifles
and 84 bn CRPF personnel, volunteers of Ramban District Red Cross Society and
of QRT and locals jointly launched the rescue and relief operation.
The deceased were mostly labourers,
drivers or security guards working at the Chenani-Nashri Tunnel and the
employees of Savronik Sistem India and Beg Construction Company (BCC) entrusted
with the excavation work.
Sources said nine persons died on spot
while one of the injured identified as Rakesh Kumar son of Sita Ram of Khanpur,
Himachal Pradesh died due to asphyxia in Sher-e-Kashmir Emergency hospital,
Batote.
They said the charred bodies were
extricated from inside the prefabricated shed.
Several fire tenders were rushed to the
spot to extinguish the fire. It took over an hour for the firefighters to douse
the fire.
Since the bodies were burnt beyond
recognition, authorities took DNA samples from them. Later, the administration
buried nine bodies in Ramban.
Officials said they will exhume the
bodies after receiving DNA report and hand over bodies to the deceased family.
A security guard, Rajinder Kumar, who
escaped the fire, said six 12 bore guns including 5 single barrel and one
double barrel along with their sixty cartridges were gutted in the blaze.
The forensic experts visited the spot to
ascertain cause of the fire.
The inmates of the damaged shed
reportedly missing and suspected to have been among the dead include Irfan
Latif son of Abdul Latif of Thathri, Doda; Des Raj son of Amarnath of Thathri,
Doda; Ishtiaq Ahmed son of Amiruddin Bhat of Banihal; Sheikh Irfan son of Najib
–ur-Rehman; Rohit Singh son of Subhash Singh of Mukerian Punjab; Showkat Ali,
JCB Operator of Chandigarh; Mohamad Rafi of Thathri, Doda; Nasirudin Shah son
of Rehmatullah of Banihal and Devinder Kumar of Jaganu, Udhampur.
The injured Omkara Singh son of Faqir
Chand of Chill, Ramban; Mohammad Afzal Naik son of Anayat Hussain of Udhampur;
Rais Ahmed son of Abdul Latief of Namar, Banihal and Mohammad Yousuf Beg son of
Bashir Ahmed of Banihal were discharged from Batote hospital after the first
aid.
District Commissioner Ramban, Bashir
Ahmed Dar has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the fire incident and
appointed Additional Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Babu Ram as the Inquiry
Officer.
He said ex-gratia shall be released in
favour of the dependents of the deceased persons as per the SDRF norms only
after their confirmed identity.
Sources said the company involved in
construction of the tunnel has not installed any type of fire safety system in
the barracks.
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