Jammu: Massive fire razes shanties of labourers, Rohingyas

Nearly 150 shanties, including 41 of Rohingya refugees, were gutted in a massive fire in Jammu in the early hours of Monday. The cluster, located at Maratha Mohalla near Jammu Railway Station, mainly housed migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Residents claimed that wind fuelled the flames and fire tenders were late in reaching the spot. "I saw flames rising from the area at around 1 am. It was a massive fire. I could see gas cylinders and refrigerators bursting. The fire could not be doused off," Ram Swaroop, an eyewitness who lives in the vicinity, told ANI.

"After nearly an hour, fire brigades reached the site. They tried to douse the flames but couldn't succeed," he said. Samsul Aalam, a Rohingya, said: "Forty-one out of total 54 Rohingya jhuggis were reduced to ashes in the blaze. People could not rescue anything because wind increased the intensity of the fire." 

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