Four children, aged 1 to 14, died in a house fire at Sarkibada in Tila Rural Municipality-3, Jumla, on Friday night. Three of the deceased are siblings while the fourth victim is their cousin.

According to the District Police Office in Jumla, the fire broke out in a three-storey house belonging to Mansingh Sarki at around 11:45pm. Mansingh’s three children—Anu, 11, Darshana, 3, and Dipesh, 1—and his niece Tirsana Sarki, 14, died in the inferno, said police. Tirsana had been staying at her maternal uncle’s house for the past four days.

The charred bodies of the deceased were taken to Karnali Academy of Health Sciences for postmortem.

“The cause of the fire is not immediately known. Detailed investigation into the incident is underway,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Narendra Chand.

The tragic incident took place when Mansingh and his wife Phaguni had gone out of their house. The fire was beyond control when the couple returned home.

“The villagers too were not aware of the incident on time as it occurred at night,” said police.

Mansingh, his wife Phaguni and sister Runchakali fell unconscious upon seeing their children’s charred bodies. They were taken to Karnali Academy of Health Sciences.

According to local residents, the fire broke out from the kitchen, which is on the third floor of the house. The children could not be rescued as their parents and neighbours came to know of the incident only after the fire had turned uncontrollable. Security personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force as well as the local people managed to contain the fire three hours after it started.

The incident site is around 21 kilometres from Khalanga, the district headquarters of Jumla.

Chief District Officer Bijaya Kumari Prasai and chiefs of the security agencies reached the incident site the same night. Prasai assured the affected families of relief.

“Mansingh’s family will be provided a relief of Rs 400,000 and his niece’s family will get Rs 200,000 as per the existing legal provisions of the country,” she added.

Every year, fire incidents go unchecked in several places across the country during the dry season, destroying lives and properties worth millions of rupees. Around 60 houses had been burnt to a cinder in two separate villages of Tila Rural Municipality last year.

Stating that most of the fire incidents are caused due to human negligence, the District Administration Office in Jumla has urged the general public to be careful and keep inflammable goods away from the reach of children.