The death toll in the tragic forest fire at the Kurangani Hills in Theni touched 18 on Thursday with one of the burn victims succumbing to injuries at a private hospital in Coimbatore.
Jaya Sree, 32, wife Elangovan, died at Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore, at 9.50 a.m. on Thursday. She had been undergoing treatment at the hospital since March 12.
Employed with a telecom firm, Jaya Sree hailed from Samayapuram in Tiruchi district and had settled in Chennai.
Meanwhile, Atulya Misra, Principal Secretary (Revenue and Disaster Management), appointed by the government to conduct an enquiry into the forest fire, stated that the deviation that the trekkers took from the regular route claimed their lives. Trekkers who attempted to run on a steep slope to escape fell into a deep gorge that was under fire.
Talking to media persons at the accident spot near Single Tree zone on Kozhukkumalai in Kottakudi reserve forests near here on Thursday, he said that the trekking group had divided itself into three teams at the spot.
The first team managed to escape unhurt and the second team that did not move from the spot escaped with injuries.
Members of the third team who ran towards the slopes to escape from the fire fell into the 200-foot deep gorge that was under fire. Several injured persons died at the hospital owing to heavy burns, he added.
