A firefighter, who was critically injured in a fire that broke out at an LPG bottling plant at Sukhachaina in Birgunj Metropolis-22, Parsa, on Wednesday, succumbed to burn injuries on Friday.

Identified as Sanjeeb Nepal, 22, he breathed his last during the course of treatment at the Kirtipur Hospital in the Capital at around 11 am today, Officiating In-Charge at the Fire Engine Department Sher Bahadur Karki informed.

With the death of Nepal, death toll from Birgunj LPG bottling plant fire has climbed to three.

Another fire fighter, who was also injured in the incident, is undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Trauma Centre in the Capital, Karki further said.

Earlier, fire fighter Yadav Adhikari and Head Constable Madhusudhan Mishra had died on the spot in the fire regarded as one of the biggest accidents in Nepal’s gas industry.

Following the death of three fire fighters in the unexpected incident, their colleagues have broken down in tears.

“Our heart has been broken; we have never imagined that such a tragedy would occur,” Karki said. “We have resumed duty with heavy heart,” he added.

Meanwhile, Birgunj Metropolitan City Mayor Bijay Kumar Sarawagi has demanded a fair and high level investigation into the incident.

Sarawagi said that he will not accept the probe committee formed by the gas entrepreneurs.

“The incident should be probed by a high-level committee formed by the government,” he said.

“We have lost three fire fighters, another one is battling for his life in the hospital,” Sarawagi added.

A preliminary study carried out by the police showed that the gas plant caught fire while the workers were decanting LPG into the plant’s storage tank from a bullet.

In May last year, three people had lost their lives after a cylinder of HP gas went off in Lalitpur. In a separate incident in the same month, a person died and six others were injured when an LPG cylinder of Sugam Gas exploded in Kalimati.