Kotdwar, Apr 11 (PTI) Two men were killed after getting trapped in a forest fire in Chaubattakhal area of Pauri district on Tuesday, officials said.

Kuldeep Kumar (28) died on the spot while 22-year-old Vikas Singh succumbed to burn injuries on the way to the hospital, Chaubattakhal SDM Sandeep Kumar told PTI.

Also Read | UP Police File 30-Page Chargesheet Against Man for Tying Stone to Rat's Tail and Drowning It in Badaun.

Singh sustained 70-80 per cent burn injuries in the fire. He was rushed to the PHC at Sodiyakkhal from where he was referred to the Hans Foundation Hospital in Satpuli but died on the way, the SDM said.

The men were returning from a river flowing nearby when they got trapped in the blaze, he said.

Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: BJP's First List of Candidates for Upcoming Polls All Set To Be Released, Says CM Basavaraj Bommai.

Bodies of the two men, who were friends, have been handed over to their families after a post-mortem, he said.

A probe has been ordered into the forest fire, he said.

There have been 120 forest fire incidents in Uttarakhand this year which have burnt 184 hectares of land in civil and reserved forest areas, a forest official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)