Kathmandu. Nirakar Pandey of Jhapa, Birtamod lost his life in the fire that broke out at the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Poipet, Cambodia, bordering Thailand.

Nirakar came to Cambodia to visit from Thailand. He was staying on the 12th floor of the hotel. After the fire, he tried to get out of the hotel but was unable to. Nirakar, his brother Niraj Pandey and family members talked to Nirakar on video call for 4 hours when he was confined in the hotel due to fire.

According to brother Niraj, Nirakar went to Thailand two months ago, on November 7. From there he went to Cambodia to visit. After the marriage of younger brother Nirajan, Nirakar went to Thailand. Niraj said, 'After learning that he was trapped in a fire in a hotel in Cambodia, at 11 o'clock at night, I, my wife and mother reached the place where his family was staying in Sukedhara, Kathmandu.'

After that, Neeraj said that he had continuous video calls with Nirakar and that they were telling him to stay safe saying that he would be rescued.

'Brother's minor son Shubharjan and his wife Sasikala Lohani live in Kathmandu,' Niraj said, 'however, we talked from 12:00 pm to 4:26 am Nepali time. We kept telling him to put a cloth on the door because of the smoke, since it is a tourist area, he will be rescued soon. But it didn't happen.'

Nirakar showed the view down from the 12th floor of the hotel on his mobile phone. In the video, an ambulance could be seen below. There was a crowd of policemen and civilians. But Niraj said that the fire brigade could not pour water on the fire above three floors. "While the rescue team was waiting, the entire building caught fire," Niraj said.

Niraj is sad that the body could not be rescued even four hours after the fire. According to him, there was a fire in the building in 2019. Nirajan thought that the fire would come under control. Therefore, he informed the family only one and a half hours after the fire started.