More than 50 huts were burnt to ashes after fire broke out in a temporary hut-village here late Saturday night.
According to police, fire was caused due to unknown reasons in the hut-village established near Urdu University in Block 13 of Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The fire spread rapidly and engulfed the bamboo and dry wood made, surrounding huts within few minutes.
Fire brigades soon arrived at the scene and started efforts to extinguish the wild fire. Meanwhile, more than 50 huts were gutted along with the households of the tenants.
However, no human loss or injury was reported in the fire incident.
MPA Muzamal Qureshi said that the huts were illegally built on land owned by Pakistan Railways. He said that investigations would be conducted into the incident.
It is worth mentioning that thousands of illegal huts built in different localities across the city have been gutted due to one or other reasons in the recent years, claiming dozens of lives.
The tenants were of the view that they were landless and forced to reside by drain water nullah’s and railway tracks in temporary huts which don’t save them from the intensity of weather. “We wish to build houses of our own if provided
proper space anywhere in the city,” one of them said.
The police, on other hand, was of the view that such tenants were mostly of criminal nature, and they reside in temporary huts as it was easy for them to change place after committing robbery or any other unlawful activity.
