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<div class="col-xs-6x hidden-xs hidden-sm pull-right"><div class="blocktop blocktop-uswe user-wrap"><div class="clearfix"></div><div class="blocktop blocktop-weather hidden-xs" style="background: none;"><div class="blocktop-temperature"><a href="/weather"><img style="width:28px;" src="https://openweathermap.org/img/w/50d.png">18.12°C Kathmandu</a></div><a class="hover-target" href="/airquality">Air Quality in Kathmandu: <strong style="color:#7e0023">331</strong></a><div class="hover-element"><div class="index-wrap aq1 active"><span class="index-data-range">300+</span><span class="label label-hazardous">Hazardous</span></div><div class="index-wrap aq2 "><span class="index-data-range">0-50</span><span class="label label-good">Good</span></div><div class="index-wrap aq3 "><span class="index-data-range">51-100</span><span class="label label-moderate txt-black">Moderate</span></div><div class="index-wrap aq4 "><span class="index-data-range">101-150</span><span class="label 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= str.toLowerCase();var words = str.split(' ');str = '';for (var i = 0; i < words.length; i++) {var word = words[i];word = word.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + word.slice(1);if (i > 0) { str = str + ' '; }str = str + word;}return str;}*/</script><script>document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) { $( ".icon-close" ).click(function() {$( ".header-ads" ).toggleClass('hidden-md');/*$( "#menu" ).menu();*/});$('.ad-close-btn').on('click',function(){$('.header-ads').slideUp();});});</script><main><div class="container"><div class="row hidden-xs"><div class="col-xs-12"><div class="trending-topics"><ul class="trending-topics-list"><li> <h4>What's News :</h4></li><li data-tagid="66958"><a href="/national/2025/02/20/mcc-funds-freeze-sparks-fears-of-project-delays">MCC Nepal compact </a></li><li data-tagid="66965"><a href="/national/2025/02/20/government-power-utility-dispute-flares-up-again">Government-NEA dispute </a></li><li data-tagid="66972"><a href="/province-no-5/2025/02/20/new-postage-stamp-honours-tilaurakot-s-legacy">Tilaurakot postage stamp </a></li><li data-tagid="66979"><a href="/kathmandu/2025/02/20/kmc-starts-slapping-fines-on-vehicles-that-failed-emission-tests">Vehicle emission test </a></li><li data-tagid="66986"><a href="/money/2025/02/20/beekeeping-a-source-of-income-in-quake-hit-jajarkot">Beekeeping in Jajarkot </a></li><li data-tagid="66993"><a href="/art-culture/2025/02/20/before-i-am-a-filmmaker-i-am-a-film-lover">Book talk </a></li></ul></div></div></div><div class="row"><span class="hidden-lg hidden-md" style="height:10px;"></span><div class="col-sm-8"><script>short_url = window.location.href;</script><h4 class=" title--line__red"><a href="/national">National </a></h4><h1 style="margin-bottom:0.1rem;">Finance minister and Pokhara mayor sustain burn injuries, flown to Kathmandu for treatment</h1><span class="title-sub">Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel and Mayor Acharya got injured when hydrogen-filled balloons burst into flames while inaugurating an event in Pokhara. </span><img data-src="https://assets-api.kathmandupost.com/thumb.php?src=https://assets-cdn.kathmandupost.com/uploads/source/news/2025/news/helibishnupoudel11522025100151-1739611764.jpg&w=900&height=601" src="https://jcss-cdn.kathmandupost.com/assets/images/lazy.png" class="lazy img-responsive" alt="Finance minister and Pokhara mayor sustain burn injuries, flown to Kathmandu for treatment"><div style="margin-bottom:1.2rem; font-size:0.9rem;"><a href="javascript:;" onclick="bookmark('737019')" class="icon-svg icon-svg-42 icon-svg-bookmark pull-right">bookmark</a><div class="page-detail--content clearfix"><script type="text/javascript">//$(document).ready(function(){/*var headerH = $('header').height();*///$(".social-scroll").stick_in_parent({//offset_top: 63//});//});</script><div class="social-scroll"><span class="social-scroll__count" style="display:none;"></span><ul class="list-inline"><li 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icon-svg-10 icon-svg-time pull-left"></span>Updated at : February 15, 2025 19:51 </div><div class="updated-time updated-time_location"><span class="icon-svg icon-svg-15 icon-svg-location pull-left"></span>Kathmandu </div><div style="position: relative;" class="subscribe--wrapperx"><section class="story-section"><p>Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel and Pokhara Metropolitan Mayor Dhanraj Acharya were medevaced to Kathmandu for treatment following an accident while inaugurating the Pokhara Visit Year 2025 in Kaski on Saturday.</p><p>The incident occurred when hydrogen-filled balloons burst into flames during the event at the Exhibition Centre in Pokhara-9, Naya Bazaar. Finance Minister Paudel and Mayor Acharya, who were on stage at the time, sustained injuries.</p><p>According to Bhuwan KC, press adviser to the minister, Paudel suffered burns on his hand and face, while Mayor Acharya sustained more severe injuries. Acharya was first taken to Fishtail Hospital, while Paudel received primary treatment at Gandaki Hospital.</p><p>Both the injured were later flown to Kirtipur Burn Hospital in Kathmandu on Saturday afternoon on a Simrik Air helicopter for further treatment.</p><p>The explosion was reportedly triggered when an automatic switch sparked and ignited the hydrogen-filled balloons. The Pokhara Visit Year inauguration went on despite the incident.</p></p> </section></div><div class="clearfix"></div><hr /><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5855301837617098"crossorigin="anonymous"></script><ins class="adsbygoogle"style="display:block"data-ad-client="ca-pub-5855301837617098"data-ad-slot="3540497678"data-ad-format="auto"data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <div class="row news--related"><div class="col-sm-12"><h4 class=" title--line__red">Related News</h4></div><div class="col-md-6 col-sm-12"><article><div class="image image-xs image-xxs pull-left"><figure><a href="/national/2025/02/20/kiit-incident-resolved-through-diplomatic-means-says-foreign-minister-deuba"><img class="lazy img-responsive" 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class="article-image"><div class="image image-xs pull-right"><figure><a href="/province-no-2/2025/02/09/malnutrition-continues-to-afflict-children-in-nepal-s-food-basket"><img data-src="https://assets-api.kathmandupost.com/thumb.php?src=https://assets-cdn.kathmandupost.com/uploads/source/news/2025/news/thumb2-1739061953.jpg&w=300&height=200" class="lazy img-responsive"></a></figure></div><h5><a href="/province-no-2/2025/02/09/malnutrition-continues-to-afflict-children-in-nepal-s-food-basket">Malnutrition continues to afflict children in Nepal鈥檚 food basket </a></h5></article><article class="article-image"><div class="image image-xs pull-right"><figure><a href="/interviews/2025/02/02/trump-administration-has-good-reason-to-re-evaluate-american-aid"><img data-src="https://assets-api.kathmandupost.com/thumb.php?src=https://assets-cdn.kathmandupost.com/uploads/source/news/2025/opinion/postfilephotointerview-1738504646.jpg&w=300&height=200" class="lazy img-responsive"></a></figure></div><h5><a href="/interviews/2025/02/02/trump-administration-has-good-reason-to-re-evaluate-american-aid">Trump administration has good reason to re-evaluate American aid </a></h5></article></div></div><div class="block-epaper block-side"><h4 class=" title--line__red">E-PAPER | February 20, 2025</h4><div class="block-epaper--c"><a target="_blank" href="https://epaper.ekantipur.com/kathmandupost"><img data-src="https://jcss-cdn.kathmandupost.com/assets/images/icon-devices.png" class="lazy img-responsive"></a><ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://epaper.ekantipur.com/kathmandupost">Read ePaper Online</a></li></ul></div> </div></div></div></main><div class="ease sticky--bottom sticky--bottom__hide"><span class="sticky--bottom__close"><div class="close" >脳</div></span></div><footer class="menu-ani"> <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class=" col-xs-12 col-sm-3"><h5>ABOUT US</h5><ul class="list-unstyled"><li><a 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