Kotdwar: Two men were killed after getting trapped in a forest fire in Chaubattakhal area of Pauri district on Tuesday, officials said.
Kuldeep Kumar (28) died on the spot while 22-year-old Vikas Singh succumbed to burn injuries on the way to the hospital, Chaubattakhal SDM Sandeep Kumar told PTI.
Singh sustained 70-80 per cent burn injuries in the fire. He was rushed to the PHC at Sodiyakkhal from where he was referred to the Hans Foundation Hospital in Satpuli but died on the way, the SDM said.
The men were returning from a river flowing nearby when they got trapped in the blaze, he said.
Bodies of the two men, who were friends, have been handed over to their families after a post-mortem, he said.
A probe has been ordered into the forest fire, he said. There have been 120 forest fire incidents in Uttarakhand this year which have burnt 184 hectares of land in civil and reserved forest areas, a forest official said. —PTI
