3 burnt to death in Balochistan forest fire

Four tribesmen were also injured; army helicopter arrives to douse the fire

QUETTA:

Three people were burnt to death and four injured while battling the violent fire at Koh-e-Sulaiman mountain range in Balochistan.

“Three people were burnt to death as they tried to extinguish the roaring flames of a forest fire. Four tribesmen were also injured in it,” Sherani district Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ejaz Jaffar said.

A local resident told The Express Tribune on the phone that three people from Samzai and Sharghali villages were burnt to death. “Two of them are beyond recognition.”

The injured were rushed to the district headquarters hospital in Zhob for medical treatment while scores of tribesmen were making hectic efforts to put out the flames.

After nine days of an intense forest fire that reduced to ashes thousands of valuable pine trees, finally, on Thursday an army helicopter arrived to put out the blaze. The flames started last week that engulfed a large swath of the mountain.

Although the provincial government officials claimed to have launched an operation to extinguish the fire, it appears they failed to overcome the situation and extinguish the flames, which are spreading rapidly.

"Ancient pine trees are burning," Atiqur Rehman Kakar, an officer of the Forest and Wildlife Department, told The Express Tribune.

He said, “Fire is spreading fast in all areas of the forest. This is an emergency situation and the government has to act quickly to control the fire.”

Another forest official, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that artificial rain could also do the trick.

Located at the juncture of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the wildfire started on the K-P side but due to strong winds, it spread to other areas, including Sherani and Musakhail. Despite the passage of nine days, the fire has not been brought under control. The locals are trying unsuccessfully to put out the blaze.

The area people lament that no measures had been taken by the local administration and the Forest and Wildlife Department to control the fire, however, the forest department officials were also stating different reasons behind the fire.

The forest secretary said the fire was caused by lightning, while Sherani District Forest Officer stated that the fire was apparently a result of a dispute between the local communities. Some rival groups deliberately set the pine trees on fire.

‘Ashar’ - a movement to conserve valuable forests and wildlife in Balochistan - criticised the provincial as well as the federal government for not making serious efforts to control the fire.

Koh-e-Sulaiman is also known for being the world’s largest chilghoza (pine nut) forest on higher elevations. The 26,000-hectare forest produces around 640,000 kilogrammes of chilghozas annually.

The fire continued to rage till the filing of this story.