A two-and-a-half-year-old girl was killed and over 65 families rendered homeless when a fire destroyed the Thalhi settlement at Jamuni Madhepura-6 in Saptari district on Thursday.

Ruksar Khatun, the daughter of Mohammad Asalam, died and two other children were reported missing, said police. The wind-fuelled fire destroyed more than 100 houses belonging to 65 households. About four dozen cattle were also burnt alive in the inferno. The incident site is some 5 km north-west of Rajbiraj.

Nasar Ahammad, a victim, said that the girl died as the villagers could not rescue her from the burning house. The victim was alone at home when the disaster took place. “The fire broke out at the house of Mohammad Salamat at around 1:30 pm. We could not salvage the belongings as the fire engulfed the settlement in no time. Most of the villagers were in the field to harvest wheat when the incident occurred,” said Nasar.

According to DSP Raj Kumar Baidawar, preliminary estimates show properties worth Rs 15 million were destroyed. Locals claimed the loss was greater.

Naresh Kumar Yadav of the Nepal Red Cross Society suspected a huge amount of cash to have been destroyed in the fire as the villagers kept the money sent by their relatives working abroad. Scores of youths from the settlement are abroad.

The fire is said to have started from a coil lit to drive out mosquitoes in a cowshed. Security personnel and locals doused the fire with the help of two fire engines from Rajbiraj and Lahan. The villagers complained that the destruction was fuelled by the fire brigades’ late arrival.

The firemen blamed narrow roads for the delay. Besides, there are no sources of water such as river or pond, said Bharat Kumar Pokharel, a fireman.