A couple was burned until death on Tuesday night when forest fires wrapped the forests of the Hasham Khel Dab mountains in the Shangla district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Martung Tehsil, according to the police.
Pakistan has dealt with an unprecedented increase in forest fires in recent years. The provinces, including KP and Baluchistan, have seen large forest fires in the last three years.
Usman Munir Subdivisional Police officer (SDPO) while talking with Dawn.comHe shared that a man and his wife were burned to death while trying to protect the firewood that remained close to his house from the fire.
The SDF of the forest department in Alpuri, said Zahid Hussain Dawn.com That the victims, identified as Hakim Zada and his wife Hajiroon, set fire to the bushes near their home. The fire got out of control quickly due to intense and racing winds, wrapping the forest.
The forest fire has now extinguished, and the bodies of the victims have been recovered from the site.
According to the attached commissioner Shangla Mohammad Fawad, compensation will be given to the relatives of the deceased.
In 2024, more than 50 forest fire incidents in Shangla were reported, while in June 2022, four people were killed by a forest fire in the district’s chakesar area.
