Two forest dept officials killed in wildfire

Two forest department officials were on Sunday charred to death in a wildfire at Wadakkancherry near here, officials said.

Poongodu forest station watcher K U Divakaran (43) and temporary watcher A K Velayudhan (54) died during a bid to douse the wildfire that had spread at the HNL plantation.

"Two other officials also suffered burns and have been admitted to Thrissur Medical college hospital," officials said.

Forest minister K Raju expressed his condolences after the tragic incident.

"The department has allotted preliminary monetary assistance to the families of the deceased. Compensation for the families of the deceased and the injured will be decided soon," the minister said in a statement.

The press release also said the plantation was taken under lease by the HNL group.

"It appears that lack of precautions to stop wildfires have caused the accident," the release said, adding that fire responder vehicles from the district were trying to douse the fire which had engulfed the area.

The same area had witnessed a similar wildfire last year.