Uttarakhand forest fires: 2 labourers killed, two suffer burn injuries in Almora blaze
Uttarakhand forest fires: Two Nepalese labourers died in a forest fire in Uttarakhand's Almora district, while two others were injured, officials said on Friday.
According to reports, the injured labourers sustained 30 to 40% burn injuries and were sent to Sushila Tiwari Hospital in Haldwani, Nainital district. Meanwhile, the deceased have been identified as Deepak Pujara and Gyaneshwar Bahadur.
Deepak Kumar, Almora divisional forest officer (DFO), stated that four individuals employed by a private person to extract leesa were trapped in a forest fire in the van panchayat area.
Among the four people, one Deepak Pujara died on the spot while Gyaneshwar Bahadur died during the treatment in the night. The other two victims, who sustained 30 to 40% burns, are out of danger.”
For more than two weeks, several districts in the state have been dealing with forest fires, which have destroyed hectares of forest land. On Thursday, the state recorded 43 forest fires, with 33 in Kumaon.
According to Nishant Verma, the state's nodal office for forest fires, over 1000 hectares of forest land have been ruined by fires in the last six months.
Verma reported that 315 cases had been lodged in "man-made" forest fire events. “There are 52 named in these cases and 267 unknown”, he stated.
- With inputs from agencies
