Kathmandu, April 5

A person succumbed to burn injuries and four others were injured after a fire engulfed a three-storeyed mud house at Lazimpat yesterday midnight. The accident occurred due to short-circuit in the mud house at Neel Saraswoti Marg in Lazimpat at around 12:05 am, according to police.

The deceased has been identified as Bhesh Bahadur Thapa of Pokhari Rural Municipality, Okhaldhunga. Thapa was a private security guard under G4S Security Services at Lazimpat- based Hotel Shankar. He breathed his last while being rushed to Maharajgunj based TU Teaching Hospital, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati at Metropolitan Police Range. The victims were asleep when the fire broke out.

The mud house was rented by Dharma Bahadur Maharjan. The injured include Bibek Shahi and his wife Ganga Maya Shahi of Bardiya, Bina Basnet of Solukhumbu and Chandra Maya Rai of Ilam. DSP Bogati said Basnet and Rai were discharged from the TUTH following treatment, while the Shahi couple were receiving treatment at the same hospital. “Condition of Ganga Maya is critical as she sustained severe burns on her face and other body parts,” DSP Bogati told THT. He said fire-fighters from Disaster Management Division of Nepal Police and Judhha Barun Yantra reached the incident site within 10 minutes of the fire. “We could not rescue Thapa as the fire spread quickly in the mud house,” he said.

The inferno was brought under control at around 1:00 am and injured were rushed to the hospital. Police said they were assessing the damage caused by the fire.

According to statistics released by National Emergency Operation Centre under the Ministry of Home Affairs, 75 persons, including 35 females, were killed and 318 injured in 2,526 incidents of fire across the country from April 14 to March 21. The financial loss or damage caused by fire accidents stood at around Rs. 3.75 billion.

Short-circuit, overheating of electronic equipment, fluctuating voltage, electric spark, poor handling of burning lamps and cooking gas leakage are the prime causes of fire outbreaks. On an average, Metropolitan Police Office gets two calls a day to respond to fire incidents in the valley. Many a case go unreported as people themselves extinguish small fires before they spread.

Recently, the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration issued a circular to all local levels requesting them to adopt safety and precautionary measures against fire-related disasters. Most fire incidents are reported in the dry season - mainly from March to May.

“Local levels are requested to take extra precautions against fire-related disasters in dry season,” Environment and Disaster Management Section of the MoFAGA said in the circular.