KATHMANDU: As many as 15 houses turned into ashes when a human settlement caught fire in Barsain-1 of Saptari district on Saturday morning.

Police estimated the loss to be worth around Rs 2.38 million.

The fire had begun from the cowshed of local Bal Govinda Yadav.

Locals and police had contained the fire in two hours, informed the Hanuman Nagar Area Police Office.

A fire brigade was called from the district headquarters Rajbiraj, but it could not arrive due to a road obstruction, according to locals.

Meanwhile, the Lalapatti-based Dharmihalpha Women's Development Cub provided the fire victims with relief materials including blankets, clothes, bed sheets, tarpaulins and kitchenware.