Fire displaces over 8000 Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal
1,248 huts in refugee camp gutted (eKantipur)
JHAPA, March 2 - At least 1,248 make-shift camps have been destroyed in a fire that broke out at Bhutanese refugee camp at Goldhar in Jhapa district on Saturday night.
Four people have been criticially injured in the incident. Narayan Bhujel, Tilak Pokhrel, Tara Niraula and Homnath Acharya are undergoing treatment at Mechi Zonal Hospital in Bhadrapur, police said.
Over 1,344 families reside in the area consisting of about 1,512 huts.
The inferno that started around 6.30 last evening was put out only around 11 in the night by five fire engines.
A couple of months ago, fire at the camp based at Beldangi had gutted over 70 huts.
Refugees destitute after inferno (eKantipur)
GOLDHAP, Jhapa, March 2 - After an inferno on Saturday night gutted down some 1,300 huts in the Goldhap Refugee Camp, some 8,000 refugees spent last night under the open sky, with no food to eat.
They had lost all their belongings, clothes, cooking utensils to the fire that ravaged the refugee settlement for four hours.
"What should I do now?" questioned Padam Lal Dahal, with tearful eyes, pointing at the cinder of his house. Dahal was in the 13-day rituals to mourn the death of his wife.
As this scribe reached the scene Sunday morning, parents were seen feeding hot water, which they boiled in the pots generously given by local villagers, to their children. Some of the parents could not feed their children last night as the fire raged well before their dinner time.
"I was making preparations to cook food as the inferno spread," said Ratna Khati, who was feeding beaten rice with water to her eight-month old baby Sunday morning.
The only belonging she managed to bring with her as she ran away for life was a blanket. "How should I live on this open area as I have nothing to eat and no home to live?" she expressed her sadness.
Some children were seen crying for their books, pens and dress that they lost to the fire. Some old people were wading through the heaps of ash in expectation to find their belongings which might have been left unravaged by the fire.
Sabitra Dhungana and Tulasi Ram Subedi were getting married on Sunday. But they lost all the things that they had bought for their wedding.
As the refugees ran for life, over 100 people were injured, according to Bhutanese journalist C N Niroula.
It was not immediately known about the cause of the fire.
However, a refugee suspected that the handiwork might be a planned one. "I am suspicious of some people living in India," the refugee said seeking anonymity.
In the meantime, Home Minister Krishna Sitaula, who visited the scene Sunday, said that the government released 3 million rupees as relief to the fire victims. Sitaula also directed the Chief District Officer to begin the relief work immediately.
