Himalayan News Service

Taplejung, April 13:

A fire that spread at Olak Gaun of Thechambu VDC in Taplejung district claimed the life of an old woman and gutted five houses today. CDO Raj Kumar Nirola said Phoolmaya Rai, 84, died on the spot and property worth Rs 0.95 million was destroyed in the incident.

In a separate incident, the house of Budhimaya Rai of Phurumbu-1 was gutted.

Meanwhile, three houses at Chhapa in Simalbhanjyang VDC of Syangja district were gutted in a fire today. Property worth Rs 0.64 million was gutted when the houses of Balchandra Neupane, Bhumit Neupane and Sabitridevi Neupane caught fire.

Our Bara correspondent said forest fires affected air service at Simara airport today.

Due to thick smoke emanating from the forests, the aircraft of Buddha Air scheduled to land at 8 am landed at 11 am, said Prakash Wagle, traffic controller officer at the airport.

Air traffic could clear only after 10.15 am, he said adding that schedules of Gorkha, Sita, Yeti and Cosmic airlines have been changed. Dry weather has caused the fire, stated Area Forest Office, Pathlaiya.

In Biratnagar, Rs 15 million worth of property was gutted after fire from Bisheswor Yadav’s house at Ikrai VDC-5 in Yadav Tole spread and gutted 168 houses on this afternoon. The details of the incident are pouring in, police said. The process of dousing the fire is still continuing. Fire brigades from Dharan, Itahari and Inaruwa participated in controlling the inferno.