The fire broke out at around 10: 30 pm from the house of Ishwar Chipalu, located along Nikunjapath. It took the security forces and locals six hours to bring the fire under control. No casualties have been reported.
Dousing the fire became additionally challenging as the fire engine in Ilam is not functional. The fire engine from Mechi municipality of Jhapa that reached the site six hours after the outbreak prevented further damages. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
According to eyewitnesses the fire spread without giving the locals much time to react. “Moments after smoke came out from Chipalu´s house, the fire engulfed the neighboring houses,” said Bijay Khaki, a local. By the time the army and police teams reached the incident site, four houses had been completely damaged.
The houses of Krishna Lal Shrestha, Hira Lal Karmacharya, Ghanashyam Kandu, Laxmi Udas, Mahendra Upreti, Pappu Khan and Madan Shrestha have been reduced to cinders.
Businessmen, who kept goods in the houses, are grief-stricken as they lost everything to the fire. Fortunately, the SBI bank, which is located close to the incident site, remained untouched by the fire.
The District Natural Disaster Relief Committee, municipality, Chamber of Commerce, have distributed Rs 300,000, Rs 500,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively for the fire victims.
Meanwhile, Nepal Red Cross Society also distributed clothes to the victims.
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