20150208 Nepal Inferno destroys cotton factory in Bhaktapur
Nepal Feb 08 2015 “Factories”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Inferno destroys cotton factory in Bhaktapur
Updated: 2015-02-09-09:30
KATHMANDU: A massive fire engulfed Kalinchowk Cotton Factory at Balkot of Anantalingeshwor Municipality, Bhaktapur last night, gutting property worth around 3.2 million rupees.
According to police, the fire allegedly caused by electric short-circuit, had spread from a temporary hut at around 9:00 pm.
Jeet Bahadur Khadka of Jiri-6, Dolakha had been operating the factory on the leased land of Krishna Silwal for the past six years.
Locals said they had seen smoke billowing from the factory at around 9:10 pm before they called the fire brigade. Meanwhile, an angry mob alleged that the fire engines arrived at the scene 45 minutes after the incident.
The mob also tried to pelt stones at the fire engines ‘for being late’. After locals convinced them, firefighters of Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City and Bhaktapur Municipality backed by fire engines had doused the inferno. The fire was put out at 2:00 am today.
Machinery, cotton and raw materials worth around 3.2 million rupees were gutted, police said. The fire had spread quickly due to combustible materials in the factory. No casualty was reported in the incident.
One killed in fire engine accident
KATHMANDU: One person was killed and four others were injured when a fire engine of Nepal Police lost control and overturned at Muni Bhairav, Koteshwor, on Saturday night. The incident had occurred at around 11:00 pm when the fire engine was heading towards Balkot, Bhaktapur, to douse the fire in Kalinchowk Cotton Factory. The deceased has been identified as Ranjit Shrestha, 24, an employee at Water Supply Corporation, Chuchchepati. He died while undergoing treatment in Civil Service Hospital at around 11.30 pm. The injured are police personnel Surendra Pariyar, Deepak Awasthi, Raj Bhat and Sujan Darshandhari. They are undergoing treatment at Nepal Police Hospital, Maharajgunj.
Web Source: The Himalayan Times
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Inferno+destroys+cotton+factory+in+Bhaktapur&NewsID=444071