Four people from the same family were charred to death when a house caught fire at Laljhoda settlement in Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Jhapa, on Sunday night. Police said Laxman Khanal, 34, his wife Radhika, 29, their four-year-old daughter Chandra and five-month-old son Tikaram died in the inferno. The two-storey wooden house was burnt to a cinder in the incident.
Four people from the same family were charred to death when a house caught fire at Laljhoda settlement in Shivasatakshi Municipality-7, Jhapa, on Sunday night.
Police said Laxman Khanal, 34, his wife Radhika, 29, their four-year-old daughter Chandra and five-month-old son Tikaram died in the inferno. The two-storey wooden house was burnt to a cinder in the incident.
According to police, the fire broke out at around 10 pm while the victims were asleep. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, said Inspector Kailash Rai. Gita Dhungel, a neighbour who tried to rescue the victims, sustained shrapnel injuries on her arms when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in the fire. “I reached the incident site immediately after I saw the house fire but could not climb upstairs to rescue the family as the house was engulfed in flames from all sides,” said Muktinath Dahal, a neighbour.
He said the villagers tried to rescue the family but to no avail. “I saw a torch light flashing from a window seemingly asking for help. But we could not save them despite our repeated attempts,” he added.
According to villagers, Laxman had stored around 40 litres of diesel in the house to run threshing machine for harvesting paddy. Police said the fire engulfed the house in no time because of the diesel stored in the house.
On Monday, lawmakers Lal Prasad Sanwa and Jhalak Singh Darlami, Chief District Officer Janak Raj Dahal, Mayor Chandra Kumar Sherma and Chiefs of security agencies reached the incident site and inquired about the tragedy.
CDO Dahal said the local administration would provide Rs 400,000 as an immediate relief to the bereaved family through the natural disaster rescue committee.
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