PESHAWAR: A raging forest fire killed four people in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday, a rescue official confirmed, as firefighters struggled to contain the flames.
Four members of a family, including three women, were killed when the fire engulfed their home in the dense Ali Jaan Kaparai forest of Chakesar tehsil, Shangla district, Rafiullah Marwat, chief of the local Rescue 1122, told Arab News.
“The family members burnt to death because the wood they placed outside the door to their home caught fire, which engulfed the entire house,” he said, adding that firefighters were still trying to control the blaze and new reinforcements would reach the site on Sunday morning.
“The area where the fire is spreading at a rapid speed is situated at a high altitude, which is inaccessible,” Marwat said.
Rescue 1122 personnel try to contain a fire in the mountains of Shangla district, northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan on June 4, 2022. (Photo courtesy: Rescue 1122)
It was still unclear what caused the fire.
Taimur Ali, media officer at the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), told Arab News that firefighters were also struggling with another blaze in Mardan district’s Babuzai tehsil.
The fire that started on Friday afternoon was reignited by strong winds after authorities initially managed to control it.
“Teams have been already deployed to control the fire,” Ali said.
Wildfires have been reported in several parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past couple of weeks, as unprecedented heat waves are sweeping Pakistan and other parts of South Asia.
