Chief District Officer (CDO) Damaru Prasad Niraula, who also heads the District Disaster Management Committee, said the fire started from a hotel at Tokmedanda area at around 6:45pm and soon caught other houses.

Local residents and security personnel tried to put out the fire for nearly three hours when the fire engine finally arrived for assistance. Together, they managed to contain the conflagration by Tuesday morning. Matrika Neupane, a local resident, said the fire broke out from a cooking gas cylinder at Purbeli Hotel. “When I entered the kitchen the cylinder was already burning. We could not douse it,” he said. Wind had made the situation worse, fuelling the fire that engulfed other houses. Seven houses had to be demolished to stop the fire from spreading further.

CDO Niraula said the inferno affected 465 people and caused an estimated loss of Rs 300 million. He said some buildings that housed government offices and organisations, including the office of the Federation of Nepali Journalists, were also destroyed.

Important papers, including documents of more than 100 conflict victims at the office of Local Peace Committee, also burned into ashes. Iksahang Limbu of the committee said the files were ready to be sent to the Peace Ministry.

The families displaced by the fire have been put up in community buildings and the buildings of the District Development Committee and Taplejung Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The local administration, Red Cross Society and various social organisations have provided food, utensils, clothes, blankets and tents to the victims.

In a similar incident on March 28, 2004, a massive fire had destroyed 45 houses at Birendrachok in Fungling.

PM instructs authorities to begin relief, rehab effort

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on Tuesday directed the local administration of Taplejung to begin relief distribution and rehabilitation programme for the families affected by Monday evening’s fire at Fungling, the district headquarters.

The prime minister has urged the local government officials, security agencies and the representatives of political parties in Taplejung to assist in the process.

Building houses that are resistant to fire-related hazards is crucial to avert the incident like the one that occurred in Fungling, said the prime minister while directing the authorities in Taplejung to implement building safety regulations.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also urged the government and the concerned authorities to ensure the safety and rehabilitation of the fire victims.

It has emphasised on providing special attention and care to pregnant women, nursing mothers, children, elderly citizens, disabled and the students appearing in the School Leaving Certificate examinations.