At least 3 people have died in one of the deadliest fire to have occurred in Kathmandu this year. The fire broke out in a building housing Elite Exped, of celebrated mountaineer Nirmal Purja aka Nimsdai in Kapan, Kathmandu, according to the police.
Police said oxygen cylinders stored there escalated the fire to such extent that it took three hours for six fire engines of the valley and two dozen firefighters of security forces to control it.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Mainali told Everest Chronicle that police were informed about the incident around 6:40 pm. They realised the inferno was beyond control of one fire truck. Nepal Police then sought help from the valley’s firefighting offices. They also asked for assistance of fire fighters from Nepal Army and Armed Police Force to douse the fire.
“It took six fire engines and three dozens firefighters well over three hours to control the fire. We are still in rescue operation,” said Mainali from the incident site at around 10:10pm.
Rescue team recovered three bodies from the ground floor of the office, where oxygen cylinders were stored. The dead are not identified yet.
Lal Babu Waiba of Nepal Mountaineering Association also confirmed that the gutted space belongs to the expedition company of Nimsdai, who is currently in the base camp of Manaslu, leading national and international climbers. “This is such a horrible incident to have occurred in an expedition company,” he said.
Nimsdai was in Kathmandu for a checkup after he tumbled in one of the paragliding take offs before two days. He returned to Manaslu base camp on Tuesday.
Some media reported about his accident in Manaslu, to which he responded, “I will always keep it real, so when I say I took a small tumble during one of my launches (which can be common on uneven terrain!) an acro paragliding flight, that’s all it was”, he posted on social media.
The explosion of gas cylinders could be heard from miles away in the valley. According to Waiba, one trekking company often stores upto 200 gas cylinders. A number of netizens close to the site reported hearing loud blasts repeatedly, and feeling the earth shake.
Rescue and operation teams are on site investigating the incident while the deceased and injured have been transported to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital for autopsy. Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa, CPN-UML leader Rajan Bhattarai from the area and mayors have all been present in the site.
In Nepal, cases of climbing oxgyen blast are often reported.
Seven persons were injured in a fire that broke out following a gas cylinder explosion in Jyatha, Thamel, in 2018. Twenty five of the total 80 oxygen cylinders kept in the house of local Suman Sthapit were exploded after catching another fire which broke out from spark of a electrict motor pump.
