The government has formed an eight-member committee to investigate the balloon explosion that occurred during the inauguration of the Pokhara Visit Year 2025 event. A cabinet meeting held in Kathmandu on Sunday decided to form the committee under the leadership of Kaski Chief District Officer Bharat Mani Pandey.

The committee comprises key officials, including the Chief Administrative Officer of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Shivraj Chaulagain, Kaski District Police Chief, Superintendent of Police Shyam Babu Oliya, Chief of the 24th Armed Police Battalion Headquarters in Hetaunda, Superintendent Surya Prasad Timilsina, and the Deputy Director of the National Investigation Department, Suresh Kumar Tiwari. The Assistant Chief District Officer of Kaski, Ganga Bahadur Chhetri has been designated the role of the secretary of the committee.

“The committee, tasked with investigating the cause of the balloon explosion, has to submit a detailed report within 15 days,” an official at the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel and Pokhara Metropolitan City Mayor Dhanraj Acharya, among others, were injured in the ballon explosion at the inauguration ceremony of Visit Pokhara Year, 2025 on Saturday. Both leaders are receiving treatment in Kirtipur Burn Hospital, Kathmandu.