Mines explode after forest fire along LoC in Poonch, blaze engulfs forests of Samba, Jammu

Jammu, May 30 (PTI) Several mines exploded due to a forest fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district on Thursday and blaze also erupted in the forest areas of Samba and Jammu districts, causing significant damage, officials said.

In Samba, the fire started in the Purmandal area and soon spread to nearby villages threatening several residential houses, they said.

The villagers alerted the administration, prompting them to send fire tenders to the area and the blaze was doused after effort of several hours, the officials said.

The locals alleged that some miscreants are triggering fire due to some vested interests and destroying forest land. They urged the administration to take stern action against those involved in the forest fire.

According to the officials, several mines exploded due to forest fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the forward area of Mankote in Mendhar sub-sector in Poonch district.

The blaze started from across the LoC and spread to this side, they said.

In a similar incident in Jammu, a fire broke out in the Choki Chora area and spread to adjoining areas of Chora, Khardoon, Padoon, Bamla, Keri and Kandi, spread across several hectares of forest land, the officials said.

The forest department officials and local residents launched an operation to extinguish the flames, successfully bringing the fire under control after several hours, they said.

There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in both the incidents, they added.