KATHMANDU: A massive fire engulfed Nepal’s oldest biscuit company Nebico on Saturday morning. Smoke plummeted into the sky which was visible from various parts of the capital.
Fire tenders from all three metropolises rushed to the spot, along with those of security agencies and water tankers used for household supply also moved it but the fire kept on burning for hours. Till late Saturday morning, fire brigades continued to struggle to contain the fire.
“We were reported about the incident at around 2:15 am and we have reached the spot by 2:20 am and continued the effort to douse the fire,” Nirmal Budhathoki, DSP at Balaju Metropolitan Police informed.
Located inside Balaju Industrial Area, firefighters struggled to contain the fire by deploying all state and security mechanisms. “We have requested and called in other security agencies- the Armed Police Force, Nepal Army, firefighters and other mechanisms to contain the fire,” Deputy Superintendent of Nepal Police, Budhathoki added.
Established in 1964 as the first biscuit company of the Himalayan Nation, Nebicoalso has been supplying confectioneries and biscuits to the Nepal Army. Situated inside Balaju Industrial Area in Kathmandu, the company claims that it occupies 73,000 square feet of land with an installed capacity of 2400MT per day.
“We are still not able to access the estimated loss as the fire is still out of control. We also are not in the mental condition to access or point out the reason or the site from where the fire started as we are mentally disrupted. It indeed has left everyone shattered and are in a situation of grief,” Arun Paudel, Brand Manager at the company told ANI.
“There are highly inflammable inside the factory, such as ghee, flour, sugar, cartoons which easily catches fire which has created confusion about when will the fire brought under control. We are continuously attempting to bring it under control,” DSP Budhathoki said. (ANI)
