ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed to provide two helicopters for extinguishing fire in Babuzai area of Swat.
At the request of the local administration, the prime minister also directed that air support be provided immediately to control the fire.
As many as four people including three women were burnt to death while battling the fire at a mountain forest in the remote area of Ali Jaan Kapraai in Chakesar tehsil of Shangla district.
The deceased included three women and a man. Three of the four deceased were identified as Khairunnisa Nazrana, Bibi Rizwana and Khalid Rehman.
The fire spread quickly in the forest as fire tenders and locals rushed to the area to put out the blaze. The blaze engulfed the nearby area where the settlers were evacuated. Police said that the fire engulfed houses in the area due to which the deaths occurred.
Shangla Deputy Commissioner Ziaur Rehman said that he had directed relevant staff, including Rescue 1122 and forest department staff, to reach the affected area and begin relief efforts.
He said the area where the wildfire has erupted is located at a high altitude and is not easily accessible. He said rescue officials have to walk to reach there which hinders relief work in controlling the fire.
The rescue officials maintained that the efforts to douse the flames in the mountains had been stepped up while the rescue operation was underway.
District disaster management authority spokesperson Inamullah Khan said the fire had erupted in some bushes and spread to engulf a larger area. Dozens of trees were reduced to ashes due to the forest fires.
Incidents of forest fire have also increased in the mountains of Swat, Buner, Mingora, Shangla, and Chakesar. Authorities said fires had broken out in four different places in the mountains of Swat and incidents were increasing due to the negligence of the departments concerned.
