Church tragedy probe starts


DHARAN: The probe committee formed by the government has began investigating the Zeon Church tragedy in Sunsari's Dharan-19 that took the lives of 23 people and injured 63 others on Tuesday night.

Coordinator of the probe committee and Sunsari assistant CDO Harihar Dahal, DSP Rajendra Dhakal and Prabash Pokharel of the Office of the Attorney General arrived here today for the investigation.

The Home Ministry had set up the probe panel.

The committee members also visited the organisers and urged them to cooperate in the investigation.

The committee next visited families of the deceased and collected information. Coordinator Dahal said the probe would begin Friday.

However, Pradip Singh, another member of the probe committee was absent.

Himal Rai - president of Sunsari Christian Society - demanded the formation of an all-party probe committee inclusive of the civil society.

Meantime, the Zeon Church formed its own five-member probe committee headed by Bijaya Rai to help the government probe team.

The three-story bamboo structure of the Zion Church collapsed on Tuesday night, killing 23 people and injuring 63 others, some critically. Fifty-three injured undergoing treatment in BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS) have been discharged as of now.