SRINAGAR: Three tourists from Bangladesh were charred to death in a major blaze in a houseboat on the Dal Lake in Srinagar. Eight have been rescued by authorities. A massive fire engulfed a houseboat near Ghat No. 9 of Dal Lake in Srinagar on Saturday morning and quickly spread to other houseboats gutting five of them, according to Fire and Emergency service officials. Seven adjoining residential huts were also gutted in the fire.
The bodies have been recovered from the debris of the houseboats. The deceased were identified as Anindaya Kowshal, Das Gupta and Mohammad Moinud. Police said five house boats were damaged and properties worth crores was damaged in the fire incident. The cause of the fire was not known immediately. Preliminary investigation revealed that the fire might have broken out in one of the houseboats due to malfunctioning of a heating appliance, sources said.