The fun-filled trekking expedition of a group of men and women from Chennai, including school-going girl students, turned into a disaster yesterday when it was reported in the morning that at least 10 of them had died in fire and by falling off the mountain while attempting to run from the forest-fire.

36 persons, 27 of them from Chennai, had been to the Kurangani forest near Theni on an expedition on Saturday and were trapped in the most unexpected manner when the forest suddenly caught fire on Sunday afternoon. The rescue work was hit by the darkness of the night and the work commenced early on Monday morning. IAF choppers were also pressed into service to trace the survivors.

District administration got into the rescue work in no time and rescued 27 persons initially out of whom 10 suffered no injuries at all. Theni Collector Pallavi made an announcement yesterday afternoon that 9 had died in the tragedy. With the death of one more person at the Hospital in the evening, the number of people who had died in the tragedy rose to 10.

The dead included Chennai-based Akila, Premalatha, Punitha, Subha, Arun and Vipin and Erode’s Vijaya, Vivek and Tamilselvi. Later in the evening, Nisha of Velacherry from Chennai succumbed to her injuries thus taking the toll to 10. Eight persons, who were seriously injured, have been undergoing treatment and haven’t yet been declared out of danger.