13 houses gutted in fire

Itanagar: At least 13 houses were completely gutted in a devastating fire that broke out in a village at West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh today. According to official report, the fire mishap, which, occurred at Kamba Village in the district, completely gutted 13 dwellings besides partially damaging the primary health center (PHC). The devastating fire broke out near the premises of the Kamba PHC at 2.30 am in the morning and engulfed several houses. However, there have been no reports of any human casualty. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has expressed grief over the fire mishap and directed the Relief and Rehabilitation department to assess the damage and losses caused to public as well as private properties and distribute relief as per norms. The district administration has offered Rs 40,000 each to the victim families as immediate relief. The Relief and Rehabilitation department has initiated steps to assess the loss caused and assured that relief compensation would be distributed if needed as per norms. The chief minister regretted that despite several appeals and advices similar fire mishaps keep recurring across the state. He reiterated that extreme precaution must be maintained to avert such incidents, especially in villages where most of the houses are made of bamboo and thatched roofs, prone to fire accidents. (PTI)