While hiking last Monday, nine hikers were fatally injured when they were reportedly trapped in a forest fire.

The fire began Sunday afternoon in the state of Tamil Nadu. It expanded quickly through the Kurangani hills, a very well-known and popular tourist spot.

There were rescue efforts on Sunday to evacuate everyone stranded in the forest.

V. Baskaran, a senior police official, reported that 39 people were trapped inside the forest during the occuring fire, most were local families. Only thirty made it out.

The victims include 4 men, 4 women, and one female child. The rest are safe.

It is confirmed that 27 people are being treated at local hospitals nearby for burn injuries. R. Sedhu, a district police official, reported that two people are in critical condition and are being treated the best they can at a specialist hospital in the city of Madurai.

“Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister, Thiru O. Panneerselvam, visited the site, Monday, tweeting images of officials inspecting the smoldering hills in the aftermath of the blaze.
Hiking groups have been told to keep a safe distance from the area as emergency workers continue to fully extinguish the fire and prevent its spread,” says Swati Gupta.

Illakiya Chandran, one of those rescued, had been on the trail to celebrate international women’s day with her friends. She was finally rescued when she had walked more than a mile with her injuries and husband Stalin Chandran to safety.

“She was saved only because of her will power,” doctors said.

Vijayalakshmi, another whom was rescued, told BBC Tamil that she had a very “lucky escape.”

“We were on the hill trail of the Chennai trekking club and some of us were caught in the fires,” she said. “I also got burned, but luckily we were able to escape.”

Theni district official S. Kandasamy says the fire is still uncontrollably burning in the region bordering Kerala.

The cause of the blaze is not yet known and is being investigated.

S. Sekar, a labourer in an estate at Kolukkumalai said that he had seen only five minor incidents that usually take place once or twice a year, but this blaze was intensive and something out of the ordinary.

Hiking groups have been warned to keep a long and safe distance from the area as emergency workers extinguish whatever is left of the fire and prevent it from spreading any further.