Foreseen Fire Kills Six

Pratik Rimal

Kalimati, March 4



10:00 PM, load-shedding ends at Kalimati area. A short-circuit causes a small fire at the mid section of Kalimati’s vegetable market. Within minutes, the small fire spreads wild leaving six dead and one injured.



Six people were charred to death while a woman sustained injuries after a short-circuit at the mid section of the vegetable market at 10:00 PM on Saturday. Guards, locals and police personnel at the site speak of horror on how a single spark spread to an uncontrollable wild-fire within five minutes.



An armed police personnel who seeks anonymity said how he could not rescue a boy who was later charred to death. “The fire was too big and had completely engulfed him. We were helpless spectators of this horror; could only watch this poor kid burn to death”. “Later, only his bones were found,” the police said. The boy was later identified as Om Kumar Shah, 15 of Birgunj.



In an attempt to cease fire, fire brigades from Nepal Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police and Juddha Barun Yantra had come to the rescue. However, by the time the extinguishers arrived, the fire was uncontrollable. “At one point, the fire brigades backed due to the growing flames,” a guard within the market area said. “While the fire extinguishers were on their way, we tried to control the fire, but we couldn’t,” another guard adds.



Officers at the market are puzzled as how the fire broke out. What further looks confusing is how a small fire could spread in such a short span of time to collapse the buildings and tons of groceries. “We have no clue of how the short-circuit occurred, and how it triggered such a catastrophe,” Binay Shrestha, Chief Planning Officer at the market said, adding that, the fire was under control only after 3:00 AM and investigation was on the way.



The guards at the market had foreseen such a calamity. It has come to surface that the guards had warned and requested the management to remove dry bamboos, plastic-shades and crates within the market area. However the management turned their blind eyes despite such 50 repetitive requests.



“If only they had considered the warning, such magnitude of ill fate wouldn’t have occured,” Bimala Karki, and other guards at the market said. “No one listened, now see what has happened,” other guards echo. However, Shrestha blames the vendors for their carelessness, but admits of having learnt a valuable lesson.



"We repeatedly held discussions with stakeholders and vendors to caution them about such probable occurrences, but the businessmen were, and still are, too concerned on money making," Shrestha said, blaming how their recklessness caused such an irreplaceable disaster. She said that they were estimating the cost of damage, and are working to clear the debris as soon as possible. Girija Prasad Gupta, president of Terai Fruit and Vegetable Association estimates a damage of more than a billion rupees. "Everything's gone, and the building too has cracked and burnt in many places," Gupta elaborates on his estimation.



With the damage, speculations are rife amongst consumers of food shortage and probable price hike. While some consumers keep their cool, others are too worried about the price hike. "I'm sure they'll hike the price by evening," Amrita Sharma, a local at Kalimati said. What Sharma opines stands true to what vegetable vendors have to say. Rabin Khadka and other agro entrepreneurs have lined their trucks loaded with vegetables and fruits at Balkhu. These businessmen have no place to unload their groceries, and in turn, have asked farmers not to load more trucks for the time being. The en-route trucks will arrive in the valley till today, but after that, it won't," Khadka said, adding that the prices could escalate twice the sum. "With what we have, we can only supply 10 per cent of the population for today. After that, we cannot," Khadka said.



"We have cleared the wastes, and we’ll start unloading trucks from tomorrow," Shrestha said, adding that the work wouldn’t have been successful without the help of Nepal Police, Army, Armed Police Force, and employees. A total of around 300 people had worked throughout the day to clear the night’s damage.



While clearing the wreckage is important to meet the feared food shortage, building the damaged infrastructure too is a priority. "The buildings can collapse anytime, and another fatality could occur," Khadka said.



The deceased include Hira Bahadur Pun, his two daughters, Shanti (16), Neera (14) and son Neerajan (12), Shah and one unidentified person. Pun's wife, Hikka is undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital, Chauni. Pun sustained burns injury. "She sustained 18 per cent burn injury, and as of now, is out of danger," Brig. Gen. Dr. Bachchu Ram K.C., commandant at the hospital said. Pun sustained injuries on her stomach, her right thigh and shoulders.



Nandan Kumar Datta, minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives expressed his shock, and disbelief to the incident. “I cannot express the shock I got this morning. Even now, it's difficult to breathe, I just cannot imagine what it was like when the fire was uncontrollable,” Datta said, assuring the victims with appropriate compensations.


HOW THE FIRE WENT WILD

A short-circuit triggered a small fire at the mid portion of the market. It slowly crept to sacks and dry bamboos. Within a few minutes, the fire started to grow. Later, two gas cylinders burst to exhume liquefied petroleum gas across the passage—only to result in uncontrolled fire.