Fire burns 78 Dalit houses to ashes

A massive fire broke out at a Dalit settlement at Rayapur VDC, Saptari, on Saturday, reducing 78 houses to cinders. No human casualties were reported.
The inferno broke out from the kitchen of Dhutari Devi Sardar at around 11am and soon, fuelled by strong wind gusts, spread to the neighbouring houses and engulfed the entire Musahar settlement.
Seventy-eight houses belonging to 56 households and food grains, clothes, cash and valuables stored inside were destroyed by the fire . A preliminary police investigation shows that property worth around Rs 10 million gutted in the incident.
“I was preparing to take meal with my children and all of a sudden the fire engulfed my settlement. We survived the incident by fleeing, but could not salvage the belongings. We have nothing left to fill our bellies now,” lamented Tiliya Devi Sada, a victim.
It took nearly three hours for three fire engines, two from Rajbiraj and another from Lahan, to douse the fire with the help of security personnel and local residents.
Following the incident, some victims have been forced to stay under the open sky, while others are taking refuge in their relatives’ home.
A fire victim, Ram Prasad Sada, was restless throughout the day. “I was preparing to welcome my newly-wed daughter in-law into the house today evening,” he said. “Now where to keep her as the house was burnt to ashes?”