Fire incidents cause 26 deaths in a month, Baisakh probably reports highest cases first time

Kathmandu: Twenty-six deaths were reported from across the country due to incidents of fire in the month of Baisakh (mid-April-May).

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, various parts of the country reported 861 cases of inferno and 573 forest fires in the past 1 month. The increased temperature and the lack of sufficient winter rainfall led to the rise in such disasters, it is said. Twenty people died while 73 were injured in the incidents of fire.

There were six fatalities and 13 injuries due to the forest fires, Authority Spokesperson and information office Dijan Bhattarai said. A total of 1,364 families were affected by the inferno and 404 by the wildfires. In this period, eight were killed by lightning strikes, two died of altitude sickness, and one each killed by flooding and an animal assault. This is probably the first time that the highest incidents of forest fires took place in the month of Baisakh.

Likewise, Department of Forests and Soil Conservation said  cases of fires in Nepal are generally frequent in a period from mid January to mid June. Terai region and districts in the inner Madhesh are more vulnerable to fire said Department’s forest officer Govinda Kumar Shrestha. He said that most of forest fires were deliberate as locals set it for good growth of vegetation, lack of public awareness and throwing of cigar butt is also one of the reasons for frequent forest fires in Nepal.

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