: A fire in a house in ward 9 of Marsyangdi Rural Municipality in Lamjung district, claimed the life of a 45-year-old man on Thursday night.

The deceased, identified as Dharti Tamang, was originally from Chitwan.

Tamang was living in the stone-and-mud house owned by Lukumari Gurung for the past two years, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Nishant Srivastava.

His body has been sent to the District Hospital in Besisahar for postmortem.

According to police, the fire broke out at around 11pm and was controlled by 2am.

Local resident Tej Bahadur Gurung said Tamang’s charred body was recovered after the fire was extinguished.

Authorities and locals suspect the fire started from Tamang’s room, possibly from a cigarette butt that ignited a nearby straw heap. Police are conducting further investigations into the incident.