Miscellaneous
Fire destroys 39 houses, displaces 285 people in Kalikot
A massive fire that broke out at Khada settlement of Palata Rural Municipality-1 in Kalikot on Monday morning destroyed 39 houses and displaced as many as 285 people including 111 children.Tularam Pandey
A massive fire that broke out at Khada settlement of Palata Rural Municipality-1 in Kalikot on Monday morning destroyed 39 houses and displaced as many as 285 people including 111 children.
The fire broke out from a house belonging to Nabin Neupane at around 1:30am and spread to other houses in the clustered settlement. As most of the houses in the settlement had thatched roofs, the village was engulfed in fire in no time. Seven people sustained burn injuries while properties worth millions of rupees were destroyed in the fire, police said.
The incident site is about 67 km west from Manma, the district headquarters of Kalikot.
According to Police Inspector Devendra Malla, clothes, food grains and other valuables belonging to 87 families living in 39 houses were destroyed in the incident.
Police said two buffaloes and 21 cattle were charred to death while 48 other houses were partially damaged.
“We had called the police immediately after the fire started but the police personnel deployed from Thirpu and Jarkot posts reached the site after four hours,” said locals.
The security personnel of Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force as well as the locals jointly took the fire under control.
Ward chairman Man Bahadur Bhandari said, “Now that the fire is under control, we have to manage shelter and food for 87 families. We are preparing to keep the displaced families at a local school building.”
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained but locals suspect that it might be a case of arson.
Meanwhile, the provincial government of Karnali provided relief materials to the victims. The province executive also provided Rs 20,000 to each displaced family as immediate relief while various local units in the district also vowed to help the fire
victims.