The deceased have been identified as security guard of the market Hira Bahadur Pun, 50; his daughters Shanti, 16, and Neera, 14; son Nirajan, 12; Om Kumar Sah, 20; and Pujan Thapa of around 14 years old, according to police. [break]
Hira Bahadur´s wife Hikka, who managed to jump out the window of her room, was rescued by police and is undergoing treatment at Army Hospital in Chhauni. Hira Bahadur, who hails from Dang, had been working as security guard in the market for the last 13 years following his retirement as head constable from Nepal Police.
Police suspect that the fire was triggered by electric short circuit at around 10:15 pm as the power supply was restored before the scheduled time of 11 pm following the evening load-shedding. The fire that spread across Kalimati market gutted the entire building, said Special Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajendra Shrestha, chief at the Metropolitan Police Range, Hanumandhoka. “The fire spread across the market as the roof of the market was covered with plastic sheets and all the trays used to store vegetables were made of plastic,” SSP Shrestha said.
He said the police team after reaching the spot tried to prevent the fire from spreading to the houses around the market. The fire was attenuated at around 1:45 am, according to police, and the four bodies of the Pun family were recovered at around 2:00 am. The two other bodies were recovered at around 4:00 am. The charred bodies were sent to TU Teaching Hospital at around 6:00 am.
Vendors at Kalimati market said that human casualty would have been greater if the fire had started a little later. Vegetables and fruits from outside the valley are unloaded at around midnight and distribution and sales start from around 3:00 am. “The time of the fire was the dead hour in the market with no activity whatsoever,” said one of the vendors.
The documents of over half a dozen cooperatives on the market premises and all the bills and receipts of the stalls were also gutted. “We only pay the farmers after selling the vegetables and I now have no records of what I have to pay to the farmers or what I stand to receive from my clients and savings in the cooperatives ,” vendor Hari Bahadur Thike, 59, from Bode said while sifting for unburnt papers amid the ashes said.
Home Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar, who visited Kalimati market said that the government will provide compensation to the vendors after details of the losses emerge. Talking to media, Gachchhadar said, “The government will provide compensation to the vendors once the committee brings out the report, and the victim families will be provided relief packages. The injured will also be given free medical treatment.”
-- Valley may see vegetable shortage --
The massive fire is likely to cause vegetable shortage in the Valley for some days, officials at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee (KFVMDC) said.
“The valley is likely to face vegetable shortage for some days as the main market that supplies vegetables to the valley has been completely destroyed,” said Executive Director of KFVMDC Arjun Prasad Aryal.
The KFVMDC supplies 70 percent of vegetables consumed in the valley. Around 700-750 tons of vegetables arrive at the market daily with the transaction amount reaching around Rs 100 million in a day.
After the fire, vehicles ferrying vegetables from various districts have been kept at Baneshwar, Tukucha, Naxal and other places of Kathmandu. The vegetables are likely to get rotten if not unloaded till Monday morning, KFVMDC officials.
In the meantime, the meeting of KFVMDC on Sunday morning formed three committees - loss estimation committee, committee to clean the gutted vegetables and market place and market management and distribution committee.
“Preparations are underway to start sales and distribution of vegetables from Kalimati market by building makeshift camps,” said chairman of KFVMDC Krishna Prasad Lamsal.
I had never witnessed such fire: Lila Raj Gachha Magar, a firefighter
I have taken numerous classes and conducted training about fire safety measures and rapid response since I joined Kathmandu Fire Brigade, popularly known as Juddha Barun Yantra four years ago. But I cannot explain the dynamics of the fire that engulfed Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Saturday night.
It was so horrific, that I am unable to sleep. The fire apparently started at around 10:15 pm due to electric short-circuit. We reached the spot within 10 minutes with all three fire trucks with us. I saw the fire had started from the center of the building, but soon engulfed the whole building assisted by wind gust. We were rendered helpless as piles of vegetables started to catch fire.
A few gas cylinders also exploded inside the building. Plastic trays and plastic sheets used for roofing helped the fire spread quickly over the area and beyond our control. So we immediately sought help from the police and the army. Police and army´s fire trucks also came immediately so did the fire truck from Bhaktapur. The fire was so massive we had to pull back the fire trucks. One of our fire trucks was damaged. I have never seen such a massive blaze in my life.
I suspect highly inflammable materials like petrol and diesel had been stored in the building. If we had tried to douse the fire only with water, the whole Kalimati area would be in ashes with a petrol pump just in front of the building. So we used fire-fighting foam to control the fire. We sprayed foam in east and west of the building to prevent the fire from spreading.
We also faced water scarcity while battling the fire. We would not have to struggle until 10 am in the morning to douse the fire completely if we had adequate supply of water. We were able to rescue a woman in critical condition, but could do nothing to save the other six people trapped inside the building.
(based on conversation with Arjun Poudel)
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