Dharamshala, June 11 -- More than 300 people were rescued after a forest fire surrounded a hilltop temple in the Nagrota Bagwan area of Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district, officials said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening during an event at Naina Devi temple which is in the Patiyalkar area of Nagrota Bagwan and surrounded by dense forest on all sides, officials said. "A forest fire encircled the temple, trapping around 350 people. A major blaze also broke out along the access road, affecting a stretch of about three kilometres. With the help of the fire brigade, the fire along the roadside was brought under control first to enable the evacuation of people by vehicle. Everyone was subsequently evacuated safely," said Nagrota Bagwan sub-divisional magistrate Munish Kumar Sharma. The operation to control the roadside fire began around 4 pm and continued until around 9 pm. Evacuation began at about 9:10 pm, and was completed around 10:45 pm. The rescue operation was jointly carried out by the forest department, fire brigade, police and local residents. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Officials said that had the fire spread, it would have impacted 5,000 people living in nearby areas. Nagrota Bagwan MLA RS Bali said that the relief and rescue operation started immediately. "I was continuously in contact with all the officers and kept an eye on the situation throughout," he wrote in a social media post. So far, 441 forest fire incidents have been reported in this summer season in Himachal....