Karachi, May 23 (PTI) Pakistan government on Monday decided to deploy Iran’s “biggest firefighter aircraft” to extinguish the raging forest fire in Balochistan’s Koh-i-Suleman range, which has left a trail of devastation and claimed three lives so far.
The fire in the Shirani forests began on May 18, after a lightning struck the area, engulfing thousands of pine trees that dot the mountainous range connecting Balochistan to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the Dawn newspaper reported.
A spokesperson for the Iranian consulate in Quetta confirmed that the plane named Ilyushin 76, which is the “biggest firefighter aircraft” in the world, would land at Rawalpindi’s Nur Khan Airbase on Monday.
The airplane would be stationed in Pakistan till the fire has been extinguished, the spokesperson added.
“The fire has now become a raging inferno and we don’t have the required equipment to put it out which is why Iran is sending the aircraft,” Forest Officer Ateeq Karar said.
He said the fire had forced hundreds of residents in nearby villages to move to safer locations.
“Different species of animals and birds are also under threat. Three people have died because of the inferno,” he added.
Karar said the blaze continues to range in an area spanning 20 kilometres in Shara Gulhghai and 15 km in Toorghardana.
“The forest range is home to pine trees dating back to more than 1,500 years, Karar explained.
The exact tally of the destruction can be ascertained only after the fire has been doused, Zhob Commissioner Bashir Ahmed Bazai told the Dawn newspaper. PTI CORR VM VM
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