A house on Haa Alif Filladhoo island was completely destroyed after a fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday.
The fire incident occurred around 1:00 am while the residents were asleep, Filladhoo council president Fathuhulla Hassan told Adhadhu. An electrical short circuit is suspected to have been cause, he said.
The council worked with the people of Filladhoo to put out the fire in about two hours, Fathuhulla said.
"God willing, no one was hurt. Everyone was taken out without injuries," he said.
While the Hithahfinivaage house was razed to the ground, all the property inside the house was completely destroyed, including the ID cards, passports, cash cards, children's vaccine cards and school items. The walls of the house also fell down.
The residents included an elderly couple, two women and three children. One of the women is Japanese. Temporary accommodation has been arranged for the family of seven.
Fathuhulla said efforts were underway in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Authority to assess damages and provide assistance to the family. Work on cleaning the site was due to begin in the afternoon.
A special taskforce was formed at an emergency council meeting held after the incident, he said, after which work has begun on preparing the legal documents that would be needed by the displaced family. The council has also decided to set up a fund to accept donations to help the family, Fathuhulla said.
