Ramban: In a tragic incident, as many as 12 houses were completely gutted in a blaze at Hijwa village under Banihal sub-division in Ramban district on Tuesday evening.
Several locals and firefighting officials gathered at the spot to help control the fire. As per a local police official, nearly 12 houses got gutted in the fire.
Indian Air Force's Mi-17 V5 helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets were also launched to facilitate the ongoing firefighting operations in Hijwa village.
IAF Tweet on Hijwa village fire Indian Air Force's Mi-17 V5 helicopters used to douse the fire "IAF had received a request on this matter at about 2:15 pm that day. Two Mi 17 V5 helicopters were quickly deployed from Udhampur and Srinagar airbases to douse the fire using 'Bambi Buckets'. The helicopters picked up water from Dal and Mansar lakes for this purpose," the IAF release reads. The operations, which went on till late in the evening, enabled dousing of the fire by dropping nearly 8,000 litres of water.
The fire has been successfully extinguished and the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
ANI