At least 65 trekkers, many of them believed to be college students, IT employees and families with children from Chennai, Coimbatore and Tirupur, were trapped Sunday in a fire that swept through the Theni forest in Tamil Nadu, bordering Kerala. Five persons were confirmed to have suffered serious burn injuries, and police and forest officers engaged in rescue operations said they feared at least three others may have been killed. The five seriously injured were among 15 who were rescued late evening by local residents in the area. At least 24 of those trapped are from Chennai, said officials. Speaking to The Indian Express late Sunday night, a state government official camping in the area said: “We have not been able to physically verify the reports of deaths.