NEW DELHI, June 13: At least four persons, including three forest department workers, lost their lives in a fire that broke out in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in Almora district of Uttarakhand on Thursday.
Diwan Ram (35), Karan Arya (21) and Trilok Mehta (56) were three forest workers who got killed in the incident which took place in the afternoon. Besides forest workers, Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) worker Pooran Mehra (52) also lost his life.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed deep grief over the incident. He has directed to immediately airlift four other forest workers who were burnt in this incident to Haldwani Base Hospital. The CM announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased.
The incident happened today at around 3.30 pm in the Civil Soyam forest division of Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, Almora.
(Manas Dasgupta)