A journalist, who was filming when a person’s house was set on fire during the demonstration led by Durga Prasai on Friday in Kathmandu’s Tinkune area for restoration of the monarchy, has died.
According to Avenues Television, video journalist Suresh Rajak died in the blaze. Avenues Television mentioned live on air that their journalist Rajak had passed away.
Nepal Police Spokesperson DIG Dinesh Kumar Acharya told Setopati that a body was found burned on the fourth floor of the house in Tinkune.
According to a journalist from Avenues, Rajak was filming a video inside that house.
Promoter of Avenues Bhaskar Raj Rajkarnikar stated that despite informing the police in time, they were unable to rescue their journalist trapped in the fire.
During the protest led by medical entrepreneur Durga Prasai, demonstrators set fire to a building in Tinkune. “Our camera person Suresh Rajak was in the building where the fire was set at around 3:17 PM. Everyone was broadcasting live from there. He got trapped inside,” Rajkarnikar told Setopati. “We called the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, and the CDO from 3 PM, but there was no response. The Armed Police said there was no one there and didn’t even let us go in.”
He added that the situation had reached a point where a journalist lost his life while working.
“We were live-streaming as our colleague was burning, and we couldn’t do anything,” Rajkarnikar said. “The state structure has collapsed. A journalist had to perish while doing his job.”
Rajkarnikar mentioned that other journalists present at the scene of the fire had informed them that Rajak was inside the building, but no rescue was possible.
“Other colleagues said, ‘Our colleague is inside, please get him out,’ but the Armed Police Force responded, ‘There’s no one there, we’ve already checked,’” Rajkarnikar said. “The fire brigade arrived an hour later. Another fire truck didn’t come.”
