Man dies, 60 huts gutted in blaze

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A 34-year-old man died and over 60 huts belonging to families of fishermen were gutted in a fire that broke out in Srininvasapuram at Foreshore Estate on Sunday.

The deceased, Kumar, was sleeping in his hut when the fire broke out. Five fire tenders, supported by Metro Water lorries, were pressed into service and the fire was doused in an hour.

“Kumar had suffered an injury and he was alone so he could not move out immediately after the fire broke out,” the police said.

Many of the fishermen were at sea while most of their families had gone to the church to attend Sunday Mass when the fire broke out.

Some, meanwhile, alleged that the fire could have been started on purpose. “On Friday, 30 huts had been gutted in a fire and the authorities had distributed over 160 tokens, each entitled for Rs 5,000.

It looks like some people who wanted money had set the huts on fire,” said a woman pointing out that one could not build a house, buy household articles and get school books for children for Rs 5,000.

Police officers said that they were probing the cause of the fire and had not ruled out the possibility of sabotage.

Some residents also claimed that after the tsunami had struck in 2004, they had been promised new houses.

“But those promises were never fulfilled. We were asked to go to Semmenchery. What will fishermen do in Semmenchery?” another woman asked.