10 dead in Kurangani forest fire: Tamil Nadu CM

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palanisamy on Monday said 10 people have died in Kurangani forest fire incident.

Talking to reporters here, Palanisamy said, "Ten people have succumbed to their injuries in the Kurangani forest fire."

He also said that people have to be careful and must take precautions as the woods are all dry during summers.

On Sunday, a group of 39 trekkers got trapped in a massive fire on a hillock in Theni district of Tamil Nadu.

Earlier in the day, Theni District Collector (DC) had confirmed that nine people died in the forest fire.

The DC confirmed that among the deceased are four women, four men, and a child.

"Six deceased belonged to Chennai, while three to Erode," the DC said.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) was pressed into action by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after reports of the forest fire surfaced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 16 commandos of the Garud Commando Force and four choppers from the IAF, with one of them at standby, arrived in Theni on Monday morning to commence the search and rescue operation.

There have been many fires over the last few days in the region.