70 houses in Baraudhoran village turned into ashes

By Our Correspondent,Sarlahi, May 4: The whole Baraudhoran settlement having around 70 houses in Bishnu Rural Municipality-1 in Sarlahi district located near the Indian border, was destroyed by a fire on Thursday.

Chief District Officer of Sarlahi, Komal Prasad Dhamala, who reached the spot, said that according to preliminary information, 70 houses were burnt into ashes. 

"This is a preliminary report, detailed information is being collected," said CDO Dhamala. 

The fire, which started on Thursday afternoon, was brought under control only in the late in the evening. As the fire brigade could not reach the spot in time, the entire village was destroyed, said the locals.

The fire engine of Malangwa Municipality, the Headquarters, was sent for repair and another fire engine from Harion Municipality had reached the Ranigunj area to control the fire, so the fire engine arrived late at the scene, said the local administration.

Only in the evening, four fire engines from Ramgopalpur in Mahottari along with Harion and Samsi from Madhesh Province Police Office in Janakpur reached the spot.

Ajit Kumar Singh, a local, said that the fire brigades arrived at the scene after the complete destruction of the settlement. 

The whole settlement turned into ashes as the fire engines could not reach in time, said Singh. 

"The fire brigades arrived only after most of the houses in the settlement were burnt down," he said. 

The incident site is located near the Indian border, 19-km south-west of Malangawa, the headquarters. After the fire, all the food and clothes inside the houses were damaged, and all the victims were sitting under the open sky in the local fields, said locals. 

CDO Dhamala, who is also the chairman of the district disaster management committee, said the administration has engaged in arranging immediate relief foods and shelters for the victims.