At least 11 shops were gutted in a midnight blaze in Manwan Aawora village of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that nearly a dozen shops were gutted in a blaze that broke out in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
The official said they were ascertaining the damages and the cause of fire.
Locals said Kiryana stores, chemist and tailoring shops were among those damaged in the blaze.
They alleged that fire tenders failed to reach at the site on time.
Demanding a Fire and Emergency Services station in the locality, they said that the entire hamlet has suffered huge losses in fire incidents in the past too but the administration never paid heed to the repeated requests.
They also sought attention from administration and demanded compensation for the affected shopkeepers at an earliest.