THENI : A 45-year-old woman and her two-year-old granddaughter were killed and eight others injured in a forest fire that broke out near Araliyuthu, under Rasingapuram range near Bodi on Tuesday. Forest and fire service personnel rescued the eight survivors and brought them to Rasingapuram.
Officials said the woman Vijayamani and granddaughter Rithikasri were among 10 people working at an estate at Pethotty, in Kerala’s Idukki district.
All 10 lived near the estate but as the Tamil Nadu-wide curfew was coming into force they decided to return to their native place in Rasingapuram. As vehicle movement between Kerala and TN had been stopped, they decided to walk through the forest.
While they were walking through the dry grass, a wildfire broke out, and fanned by wind, spread into surrounding areas. According to rescue personnel, Vijayamani and Rithikasri were caught in the fire and died on the spot. The eight others sustained burns, with two among them receiving severe burn injuries. The survivors managed to call forest and police personnel by mobile phone and ask for help.
A team of forest officials led by district forest officer Gowtham, fire and rescue service personnel and police personnel led by Inspector Dharmar rushed to forest and managed to find the survivors amid the thick clouds of smoke. Following Kurangani forest fire that killed 23 in 2018, the forest officials have restricted movement through forests. However, the estate workers’s unimpeded walk through forests raise doubts on how well the forests are being monitored.