BHOJPUR: It is estimated that properties worth at least Rs 200 millions were gutted in the fire that reduced as many as nine houses to cinders at Bhotepasal area of the Bhojpur district headquarters on Sunday.

The details of the exact loss are being assessed, the District Police Office said.

The fire broke out from local goldsmith Thir Kumar Portel’s house due to cooking gas leakage yesterday afternoon and spread to other houses in the neighbourhood.

Two houses of Phabindra Shrestha and one each of Portel, Badri Rana, Lal Bahadur BK, Dadiki Sherpa, Jagat Bahadur Baraili and Phabindra Shrestha were eaten up by the inferno, according to the DPO.

The fire was contained after two hours at around 7 pm with the help of locals, security personnel and fire brigade.

Power supply and telephone service have been affected as fire burned cables.

Nepal Telecom said it may take some time to resume the service. Around 100 landlines and 10 ADSL users have been affected.

The Bhojpur distribution centre chief at the Nepal Electricity Authority, Khagendra Bahadur Bhandari, said efforts are afoot to resume the power supply using the available logistics. According to him, his office has asked the Biratnagar-based regional office to provide required cable.

Meanwhile, temporary shelters would be made for those displaced by the fire.

A meeting of the District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee, chaired by Chief District Officer Arjun Kumar Sharma, this morning made a decision to provide relief to and build temporary shelters for the fire victims.

It is learned that the Nepal Army’s Ranabam Batallion would help build the shelters in a plot of Baneshwar Guthi.