Those killed in the fire have been identified as Chitra Pun, 17, Hira Pun, 35, and Reshmi Pun, 35. All of them hail from Damachaur VDC-6 of Salyan. While one of them was caught in the fire in the forest itself, the rest were charred to death as they attempted to save their houses and property.
Chitra, a student, was returning home from her school when the conflagration engulfed her. Chitra could not flee the burning forest as there was no one to rescue her. Chitra´s body was entirely burnt by the fire, according to police.
Likewise, the fire caught Hira when he was busy releasing his cattle from his shed that had caught fire. Reshi, who was partially burnt while hastily taking her belongings out of her home, died Friday morning.
The fire that gutted Lali Gurans Community Forest in Damachaur VDC had later entered Govane VDC, destroying five houses. Two villagers in Govane were injured by the fire.
According to police, the fire has not completely been extinguished until Friday evening. Two separate police teams have been mobilized from the District Police Office of Salyan and Area Police Post of Damachaur to douse the fire.
In a separate incident of fire, 25 houses and sheds were gutted on Friday in Narainapur VDC of Banke, Republica correspondent Dinesh Gautam reported. The fire was triggered by locals´ careless handling of matches while lighting their hearths.
According to Superintendent of Police Mahesh Bikram Shah, the loss of property was heavy because most of males were away at work and failed to douse the fire immediately.
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