The fire broke out at 8:45 pm in the house of Govinda Bahadur Katawal killing him, his wife Radha, 14-year-old son Sujan, eight-year-old son Sushil, and eight-month-old son Biraj. [break]The house is located at Rajarani bazaar, a tourist destination 56 kilometers southeast of Dhankuta district headquarters.
All the family members were asleep when the fire broke out during load-shedding hours. It took locals and police four hours to douse the fire. By the time the fire came under control, all five members of the family had died. The bodies were charred beyond recognition.
“We made a lot of effort, but could not rescue them,” said Kopila Rai, a local. Rai added that a fire engine arrived from Dharan only after the fire had been doused as the 36-kilometer road from Dharan to Rajarani bazaar is a difficult one.
The fire also damaged neighboring houses of Bhim Kumari Limbu and Tilak Karki.
The deaths of the five have left the whole bazaar mournful. Police say the fire caused property damage worth Rs 4 million.
Locals say the Katawals used to light wood charcoal near their bed every night to keep their infant son warm. Police and locals suspect the wood charcoal led to the fire outbreak.
“The family members came to know about the outbreak very late as everyone was asleep at that time,” said Khagendra Kunwar, nephew of deceased Govinda. “By the time they learnt about the outbreak, a gas cylinder had exploded in the kitchen adjoining the bedroom and it was already too late to escape,” he said. The five were sleeping in two bedrooms.
According to Kunwar, rescue was made additionally difficult by the fact that to the right and left of the house are concrete walls of neighboring houses, and behind the house is a hillock.
Locals and police could not break the main door of the house that was locked from inside. The three-storey house was built with rocks and mud.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Sharad Tamang said the gas cylinder explosion complicated rescue work. “The house was old and there was a gas cylinder explosion which led to an uncontrollable inferno,” said Tamang citing eyewitnesses.
Police from nearby Area Police Office, apart from those from Okhre located 15 kilometers from the village and Bhedetar located 21 kilometers from the village were involved in dousing the fire. Additionally, a 24-member police team led by Inspector Kishore Pradhan was also dispatched from District Police Office for rescue work, said DSP Tamang.
Rajesh Basnet, who was part of an Armed Police Force team from Chhintang company involved in rescue work, said the fact that the house was built with rocks and was surrounded from three sides made it impossible for rescuers to break into the house. The tin roof of the house and wooden beams supporting it collapsed on the family members trapping them under it, he said.
“The flames were so big that no one could break into the house,” he said.
The Katawal couple used to sleep with the infant in one room, while the two other sons used to sleep in another room. But after the fire was doused, the rescuers found the charred bodies together.
Govinda, who is originally from Bodhe VDC, Dhankuta, had settled in Rajarani seven years ago. He had returned to Nepal two years ago after working in Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, Chief District Officer Khadga Chapagain and local chiefs of security agencies reached the village and gave Govinda´s father Srilal Rs 25,000 for cremation of each of the deceased, apart from relief sum of Rs 5,000. Local Development Officer Bikash Adhikari also gave the deceaseds´ relatives Rs 20,000.
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