Fire incidents kill 26, lightning claims 8

Incidents of fire claimed at least 26 lives across the country in the month of Baisakh (mid April-mid May).

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), various parts of the country reported 861 cases of inferno and 573 cases of forest fires in the past month. Reports suggest that the rise in temperature along with the dry season due to the lack of sufficient winter rainfall led to the rise in fire related incidents.

According to NDRRMA spokesperson Dijan Bhattarai, twenty people died while 73 were injured in the incidents of fire. Similarly, there were six fatalities and 13 injuries due to forest fires.

A total of 1,364 families were affected by inferno and 404 by the wildfires.

During the review period, another eight people were killed by lightning strikes, two died of altitude sickness, and one each died due to 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, reported the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation

Cases of fires in Nepal occur frequently in a period from mid-January to mid-June.

The Terai region and districts in the inner Madhesh are more vulnerable to fire, according to the department’s forest officer Govinda Kumar Shrestha.