About a hundred families lost their homes to the fire incident in Thimphu yesterday. The fire destroyed 91 units of semi-permanent structures at the Lungtenphu Army Camp and nine units of two Changjiji Housing Colony buildings. The fire started from the semi-permanent structures at the army camp in the afternoon yesterday.
As firefighters battled to contain the blaze from engulfing the entire semi-permanent houses in the army camp area, the raging flames spread to two housing colony buildings adjacent to the army camp.
The affected families lost all their belongings. However, all the people were accounted for and no casualties were reported.
By late evening, the flames were contained but the fire destroyed everything in its path. Strong easterly winds did not help the firefighting cause.
According to sources, all nine affected families from the Changjiji Housing Colony were relocated to empty apartments in the colony.
The Thimphu District Administration and the National Housing Development Corporation have supplied all the necessities to the affected families.
According to sources, affected army families have been temporarily housed in hotels.
A few people have also reported missing properties to relevant authorities.
Officials said some belongings could have been misplaced in the process of containing the fire.
A few students and graduates also expressed their concern over losing their documents to the fire but the district administration assured its support in obtaining replacements.
Meanwhile, the cause of the fire has yet to be known.
Kinley Dem
Edited by Sherub Dorji
