The tragic incident of fire in Guwahati’s Hatigaon locality on Thursday night has left as many as 127 families distraught and shattered, with many complaining that they have suffered losses amounting to several lakhs.
Among the hardest hit were fire victims who had lost important documents including bank passbooks, NRC certificates, insurance policies, voter cards, pan cards, and more.
Speaking to the Pratidin Time, a fire victim said, “Everything is over, I couldn’t managed to save my important bank documents and other documents like passbooks, voter ID cards etc. I am a mason by profession.”
In a video, a small child is seen picking up his belongings from the house that was destroyed by last night's devastating fire.
Another woman told Pratidin Time, “I was having my dinner with my two daughters when the fire broke out last night. I managed to escape with my daughters but couldn’t save my important documents and their study books.”
It is also learned that out of the 127 families few were residing as tenants and were earning their livelihoods by working as roadside vendors and masons.
Sources informed that majority of the houses that were destroyed were thatched houses and were belonged to one Riju Ali.
According to reports, the fire, which started from the house of Riju Ali, is suspected to be ignited by an electrical short circuit. However, the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
As many as 15 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The firefighters struggled for more than three hours to douse the blaze.
Meanwhile, a group of people have come forward to help the fire victims and arrange food, shelter, etc. Some people even distributed blankets and cushions to the victims.
Taking to Twitter, BJP MP from Guwahati constituency, Queen Oja said, “I am deeply saddened to learn about yesterday's massive fire incident at Hatigaon, Guwahati that caused huge destruction of people's property and livelihoods. Hence, visited the site today and took stock of damages & relief works being carried out.”
It may be mentioned that the city Guwahati has been witnessing several fire incidents in last couple of years.
A similar kind of devastating fire was last reported in Guwahati’s Fatasil Ambari locality last year in the month of December 2022.
The fire incident had completely gutted down houses of at least 150 families.
The blazing inferno is suspected to have been erupted after more than 15 cylinders exploded in a slum area behind the Kamakhya Ram Borooah College in Fatasil.
All arterial roads were blocked after the fire broke out.
In the year 2023, around four incidents have already been reported in the city.
The latest incident was reported on February 11, where several vehicles were charred by a devastating fire that broke at the parking lot of a building in Guwahati's Christian Basti district.
The unprecedented fire broke out at the parking lot of Silver Square building in the morning hours.
According to information, the fire first erupted inside a vehicle that was being repaired. The blaze then quickly spread to other vehicles parked in the vicinity, gutting them completely.
