Property worth around Rs20 million was destroyed in two separate fire incidents in Rautahat on Friday night.

At around 9pm, a fire broke out at the bamboo-and-thatch house of Krishnanandan Patel near Kabir Chowk in the district headquarters Gaur. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Raya of the District Police Office, Rautahat, the fire caused an estimated loss of Rs400,000 to the house and destroyed five motorcycles and a water pump. Security personnel and local residents worked together to bring the fire under control.

Earlier, at around 8:30pm, another fire erupted due to a short circuit in the ground-floor warehouse of a three-storey concrete house belonging to Dharmendra Jaiswal in Kopwa village of ward 5 in Baudhimai Municipality, which borders India. As per the victim’s complaint submitted to the police, clothes, a motorcycle, and other goods worth Rs10 million stored in the warehouse were destroyed, and the total damage, including the house, is estimated at Rs17.6 million.