Nearly two dozen shops were gutted in a midnight blaze in Lawoosa area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
The shops housed in a shopping complex within the Army brigade got damaged in the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, news agency KNO reported quoting officials.
As per the shopkeepers, the fire broke out at around 11:00 pm and engulfed the whole shopping complex, damaging at least 22 shops.
“Nobody among us was allowed to enter the premises and even this time all are waiting outside to be allowed to visit the spot and verify,” said Manzoor Ahmad, one of the shopkeepers.
“Whatever the stock accumulation was done in recent days has turned into ashes and nothing belonging to the owners could be saved,” he said.
Ahmad said that the ATM, post office and engineering store belonging to the Army brigade was also gutted in the fire, the cause of which was yet to be ascertained.
Meanwhile, a police official told KNO that a police party has been rushed to the spot and details related to the incident are being gathered.