Three persons, including two firemen, were injured today when they tried to douse a fire that had engulfed a school building and two shops in this town of the Doda district.
The fire that started at 3 AM in the Dharam Pura Mohalla of the town destroyed the building of a private school and two shops, a police officer said.
Fire tenders and police reached the spot and immediately started to douse the fire, which was spreading rapidly as the school building was located in densely populated residential area of the old town and all the adjoining houses were mostly made of Cedar and Pine wood, the officer said.
"Police along with fire tenders reached the spot within 15 minutes. During the rescue operation in-charge fire services, Zakir Hussain also got injured," he said.
The other two injured have been identified as driver of fire services, Nadeem Akhter and a civilian Sadhu Goswami.
We are ascertaining the cause of the fire, the officer said.
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Meanwhile, in a separate incident 11 persons were today injured when the vehicle they were travelling in turned turtle in Billawar area of Kathua district.
A matador, which was on its way to Billawar from Kathua, turned turtle near Billawar and its 11 passengers were injured, a police officer said.
The injured have been shifted to the Sub District Hospital (SDH) Mahanpur Kathua and their condition was stated to be stable.
A case has been registered and investigations are underway, he said.
