Seventy-nine families have been displaced after houses in Dobhan bazaar on the border of Meringden Rural Municipality-3 and Athrai Tribeni Rural Municipality of Taplejung district caught fire on Tuesday morning.
Chief of Taplejung Police Office, Balram Singh Rana, said that the fire is still to come under control. A total of 47 houses were destroyed in the blaze, displacing 79 families, he added.
Branch offices of Laxmi Bank and Global IME Bank and a branch office of IME were completely damaged in the fire, shared a local Ganesh Karki.
Dobhan bazaar is the second largest town in the district. There are 100 commercial houses in Dobhan bazaar. Different types of shops including grocery, jewellery, food store and hardware operated in 47 houses were destroyed in the incident, said Rana.
He added, "The fire is yet to come under control. We will collect the details of losses caused by fire."
Fire engines of Phungling Municipality and Panchthar district are dousing the fire. Details of the extent of the damage are awaited.