Three killed, 3 injured in massive fire in Jammu slum

More than 80 shanties were burnt in the incident.

Two minor girls and a woman were killed and three others were injured in a massive fire in a slum in Narwal Bala on the outskirts of Jammu shortly after midnight Friday.

The fire started in Narwal area of Jammu city around 12 am in the slum area where dozens of families of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have taken shelter. (Twitter/@ANI_news)

More than 80 shanties were burnt in the incident.

“Around 12:05 am a fire broke out in one of the shanties and within no time it engulfed other shanties. The incident happened in Kiryani Talab area of Narwal Bala. Two minor girls and a woman died and three others sustained burn injuries,” a senior police officer told Hindustan Times.

The shanties were inhabited by Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar, he said.

The cause of fire is yet to be ascertained but it is suspected that a short circuit or a heater might have started the fire. Many slum dwellers use heaters to keep themselves warm in the winter.

The officer said that over 15 fire engines fought the blaze for nearly two hours before it was extinguished.