In Uttarakhand, four firefighters lost their lives, and four others sustained serious injuries in a massive fire at Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Almora district yesterday. The incident took place when an eight-member team rushed to the spot to extinguish the fire. However, the situation took a tragic turn, when strong winds exacerbated the flames, resulting in the death of four team members and serious injuries to the remaining four.
The killed were identified as Binsar Range Forest ‘Beat’ Officer Trilok Singh Mehta, ‘Fire Watcher’ Karan Arya, Provincial Armed Constabulary Jawan Puran Singh and daily wage worker Diwan Ram, they said.
The injured have been airlifted to Haldwani base hospital. Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed deep grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of 10 lakh rupees for the families of the deceased. He later ordered officials to airlift the injured to the Haldwani base hospital for better treatment.
Parag Madhukar Dhakate, special secretary to the chief minister, said the incident took place at about 3:30pm in the Civil Soyam Forest Division of Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Conservator of Forests (North Kumaon Circle) Koko Rose said the four people died when they were trying to douse the fire. Four others who received burn injuries were initially shifted to a nearby hospital.
