One person was charred to death after a huge fire broke out at East Block Colony Burma camp here Sunday afternoon, reducing an entire block of bamboo and CGI roof hutments to rubble besides rendering hundreds of families homeless.
A fire official told Nagaland Post that an elderly lady in her 80s, who was alone at the time of the fire, was charred to death. The body was later recovered by the fire personnel and handed over to police for necessary formalities, the official said
The official also confirmed that around 260 houses were reduced to rubble and that around 900 people have been made homeless.
Though investigation was ongoing to ascertain the cause of the fire, it was disclosed that the rapid spread of the fire was caused by multiple explosion of gas cylinders. Some fire personnel were also injured by the fire.
Seven fire tenders were presses into action– four from Central Zone, two from West zone and one for Chümoukedima. It took nearly three hours for the fire personnel to completely douse the fire.
According to DPRO Dimapur, properties worth around one crore rupees were destroyed in the fire.
District Disaster Management Authority Dimapur under the chairmanship of DC Dimapur distributed relief material and essential items to the affected families. The team was headed by EAC Dimapur Yan Kikon. Several organizations also came forward to help the fire victims.
It may be recalled that in 2011, more than three thousand people were rendered homeless after a devastating fire wiped out an entire row of 804 houses made of bamboo structure and CGI roof at the same location United East Block, Burma Camp Dimapur.
Three people, reportedly from the Bihari community were also charred to death and many others suffered ailments due to excessive smoke. Three non-Nagas were killed in the incident.
Fire at Naga Cemetery
Another incident occurred inside old Naga Cemetery here around 4 pm on Sunday.
A fire official at the site informed this reporter that the fire might have started from burning of candles kept at a grave on the occasion of Easter Sunday. The fire had spread in the bushy areas of the cemetery, but was contained.
Some colony residents however suspected that the fire might have been started by some miscreants who were smoking weed (ganja).
