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Fire in Khan Bosti affects 260 families |
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Dimapur, July 6 (MExN): A devastating inferno engulfed an entire neighborhood across the Nagaland border at Khan Bosti, Balijan ‘C’ on Tuesday, July 6. It rendered 260 families homeless who were living as tenants in rows of thatched dwellings. Fortunately, no lives were claimed by the fire which started around 11:15 am. The site of the fire falls under Bokajan sub-division in Karbi-Anglong district of Assam. It borders with Dimapur’s LRC Colony and Island colony.
Majority of the affected families consisted of ‘non-locals’ who eke out a living in Dimapur. A resident said that around 6-7 thatched dwellings belonging to Nagas and Karbis were also among the inferno’s victims. All of the 260 affected families were crammed into a plot of land measuring roughly four ‘bighas’.
Damage to property, without including the houses in the fire’s vicinity dismantled as a preventive measure, was estimated at nearly a crore of rupees. A taxi, a diesel-powered three-wheeler and six grocery shops were also completely razed. One Maruti van was however, luckily saved after it was pushed into a nearby pond for safety.
With no emergency fire services nearby on the Assam side, fire tenders from Dimapur were compelled to respond to frantic calls for help from the residents there. Firemen as well as volunteers battled for more than an hour to douse the flames. The fire is said to have started from a saw-dust fueled fireplace in a kitchen rented out to a tailor.
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