Ten persons, most of them labourers from neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, besides J&K, working on a tunnel project, were charred to death in a fire incident in Jammu and Kashmir’s R
Ten persons, most of them labourers from neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, besides J&K, working on a tunnel project, were charred to death in a fire incident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Friday. Police and fire services department officials said that the fire was caused probably by a short circuit at the barracks of labourers working on a tunnel project at Nasra along the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Talwas area of Chanderkote belt of hilly district Ramban district at around 1 am. IGP Jammu, Danish Rana, confirmed that 10 people died and four others were injured. As the bodies of the victims were charred beyond recognition, their identity would be ascertained through DNA tests. A decision to this effect was taken after normal identification became difficult as only one victim — Rakesh Kumar of Himachal Pradesh – could be identified and the rest of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition. The victims include earth mover drivers, helpers and labourers working in the Nasra tunnel on the highway being re-designated as a four-laning Rs. 3,382.66 crore project.
