NEPALGUNJ, June 14: A fire caused by a lightning strike reduced the entire village of Chhotki Chauferi in Banke into ashes on Wednesday morning.

A total of 38 houses of the village which lies in Duduwa Rural Municipality-1 were gutted. The fire started from the house of Khelwan Yadav and gradually spread to the adjoining houses. According to the District Police Office (DPO), they were able to bring the fire under control only around noon.

A police team from Khadaicha Police Station led by Sub Inspector Kabindra Kathayat reached the village to douse the fire and rescue the locals. Fire engines could not reach the site due to geographical difficulty. As a result, the entire village was destroyed in the fire. 

Arun Paudel, Superintendent of Police (SP) at the DPO, Banke, informed Republica that the fire damaged property worth over Rs 3.1 million. Khelawan’s 16-year old daughter Nankai Yadav who was sleeping inside her home was injured in the fire. According to police, she sustained burn injuries on her back.

Security officials and local representatives have visited the village. Chief District Officer Madan Bhujel, chairperson of Duduwa, Narendra Kumar Chaudhary, SP Paudel, Armed Police Force chief in the district Bhesh Bahadur Shah, Deputy Director of National Investigation Department Kamal Prasad Bhattarai, among others, have visited the village so far.

The District Disaster Management Committee has provided Rs 3,000 to each household as relief while Duduwa Rural Municipality has provided Rs 2,000 each and also managed one time meal for them. Similarly, Red Cross, Banke has provided tents to the victims, according to Dolakh Dangi, chief of Red Cross Office, Banke.

 
• Banke
 
• fire
 
• lightning_strike
 
• village_gutted