Locals throw snowballs at structure to douse flames, fire tenders fail to reach spot on time; Narrow snow-covered roads compound situation, says officials
Waris Fayaz
Gulmarg, Feb 28 :
A local hotel was damaged in a massive blaze that broke out at the famous ski-resort, Gulmarg on Wednesday morning. However, the officials claimed that they had to face tremendous hardships while reaching the spot due to the narrow snow-covered roads.
An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that a three-storey hotel went up in flames at Gulmarg this morning following which the fire and emergency services were informed to douse the flames.
However, until the fire tenders reached the spot, the local men present at the place put their efforts to douse the flames in a unique way, the video of which also went viral on social media platforms.
The locals were seen dousing the flames by throwing the snowballs into the structure as the fire tenders couldn’t reach on time.
“The narrow and snow-covered roads compounded the situation while the information was not provided to them on time,” Mir Arif, Deputy Director, F&ES headquarter told KNO.
He said that the challenges faced by firefighters was due to the presence of heavy traffic congestion on the narrow, snow-covered roads leading to the hotel and the limited accessibility impeded the timely arrival of fire tenders and rescue teams, which prolonged the duration of the incident and exacerbated the extent of the damage.
However, the officials said the hotel structure was damaged completely while no casualty was reported during the incident.
Moreover, all the tourists present in the hotel were safely evacuated—(KNO)