“But now, everything has turned to ashes,” said Gurung, one of the victims of Wednesday´s fire outbreak in the camp. Gurung lost her abode and almost everything she owned in the fire.[break]
The fire that broke out at around 9:45 p.m. burnt down the huts of nearly 100 refugee families.
These families that were braving the cold without sufficient clothes now don´t even have a roof over their heads.
“Though we are given food, it has been 12 years since donors gave us clothes,” said Indra Timilsena, coordinator of the camp´s Child Rights Forum. “We lost everything in the fire. We don´t know how we are going to survive the winter,” he said.
According to a team that is trying to ascertain damages caused by the fire, 28 huts were completely burnt down in the fire. Of the 400 people affected by the fire, children and the elderly need to be immediately provided with supplies to keep them warm, according to Harka Bahadur Rai, chief of the camp.
The team said an additional 48 huts were completely pulled down to contain the fire. Police said 50 more houses have been partially affected in the fire.
Lal Bahadur Lamgade of shelter A3 said the fire broke out from a candle lit inside a hut that bears the number 476.
Those who have been rendered homeless have been kept in a school building. The school built with knitted bamboo sheets cannot prevent cold wind from gushing in.
“It was difficult to live in the huts. But now, the situation is worse,” said Indra Pradhan.
But all that the refugees are getting as relief supplies are instant noodles and beaten rice.
Chief District Officer Kumar Shrestha said efforts are on to provide warm clothes and food to the refugees. Shrestha further said that the fire outbreak destroyed property worth Rs 5 million.
This is the third fire outbreak in Beldangi camp. Three years ago, an outbreak damaged 70 huts, while two years ago 167 huts were destroyed.
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