The fire that swept through the Central Plaza in Itahari was extinguished after six hours with the collaboration of security personnel from the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police and the locals at the site.

The fire, which started around 9:30 am on the fifth and sixth floors of the ten-storey building, was brought under control after six hours, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police Yograj Khatiwada.

More than a dozen fire engines from various local levels in Jhapa, Morang, and Sunsari, along with 350 security personnel from the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, and local police, were deployed at the scene.

A total of eleven people—eight men and three women—trapped on different floors of the commercial building have been rescued, according to Koshi Province’s Minister for Internal Affairs and Law, Rewati Raman Bhandari.

Three of them were airlifted by a Nepal Army helicopter from Kathmandu.

The building houses a hotel, cinema hall, banks, a supermarket, clothing stores, and electronics shops. It is unclear what caused the fire. The local police have been collecting details of the destruction caused by the fire, reported Deputy Superintendent of Police Laxmi Bhandari.