ITAHARI: Property worth around Rs 6 million were destroyed in a fire that gutted the entire Ikrahi settlement in Baraha Kshetra Municipality-11 of Sunsari district on Saturday night.

The fire gutted 82 houses made with corrugated zinc sheets and thatched roofs in the settlement, leaving 62 families homeless, informed Kedar Bista, chairperson of ward-11 in the municipality. However, the full details of the property destroyed in the fire will take some more time, chair Bista added.

However, no human casualties have been reported so far in the fire that injured some children and killed two cattle heads.

According to Chair Bista, the exact cause of the fire or where the fire started from has yet to be ascertained.

Police with the help of Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, locals and four fire engines from Itahari, Dharan, Inuruwa and Rajbiraj  brought the blaze under control at around 1:00 am yesterday, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Narayan Prasad Chimauriya at the District Police Office, Sunsari.

All the clothes, utensils and foods housed inside were burned to cinders and immediate relief is needed for the fire victims, DSP Chimauriya added.

Meanwhile, the municipality is preparing to provide emergency relief to the fire victims, informed Lilam Khanal, chief of Baraha Kshetra Municipality.

Further investigation into the case is underway, said police.