ITAHARI, April 27: "The fire destroyed everything except a motorcycle and a piece of cloth that I was putting on,” moaned Harish Ansari of Harinagara-6, Sunsari, while sharing the property loss caused by the inferno that raged on Wednesday night.
“We could not save anything as the fire broke out at night while we all family members were in deep slumber,” said Ansari.
In a flash, Ansari, who was rich in the locality before, was forced to live under the open sky, struggling for mere a square meal.
Ansari, 36, said the fire had started from the kitchen before it spread to the bed room and then to the other houses.
Rain guts inferno in Khotang
It is assumed that a shanty made of jute caught fire after being ignited from the fireplace. “If we had known about the start of the fire, we could have contained it in time. The fire spread to the neighbors’ houses after it destroyed mine,” lamented Ansari.
It is estimated that the fire destroyed Ansari’s property worth Rs 3.2 million.
The fire destroyed three houses each of Ashish Ansari, Waris Ansari, Jamal Ansari. Similarly, the fire also gutted two houses of Usman Ansari, taking the total number destroyed houses from five families to 14.
District Police Office, Sunsari has said that 14 houses including two of Ansari were destroyed in the fire. However, the property loss caused by the fire is yet to be estimated, said DPO.
The fire was contained by the fire brigades from Itahari and Inaruwa with the help of police and locals.
Fire victim was provided Rs 5, 000 each by the District Administration Office.
With the onset of windy season, there has been a series of fire incidents.
Houses of 11 families were destroyed in Baraha Municipality-9, Sunsari two weeks ago.
