KATHMANDU, Aug 23: At least 14 people were killed after an Indian-registered passenger bus plunged into the Marsyangdi River in central Nepal on Friday, according to media reports.
The bus from Gorakhpur was heading toward the capital Kathmandu from the resort town of Pokhara when it drove off the highway in Aaina Pahara in the Tanahun district.
At least 29 passengers have been rescued from the bus with the number plate UP 53 FT 7623.
The bus was heading to Gorakhpur from Pokhara via Kathmandu.
At least 14 people were confirmed dead in the accident, the report said.
Information Officer at the District Police Office, Tanahu, Mohan Bahadur Khan said 29 people have been sent to the hospital so far. The condition of those rescued passengers has not been disclosed yet.
A team of 45 Armed Police Force personnel led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Madhav Paudel from the Armed Police Force Nepal Disaster Management Training School has already reached the accident site and is carrying out the rescue operation, MyRepublic.com reported.
About 35 APF personnel from no 23 Battalion, Bhanu, Tanahun, are also involved in the rescue operation, the report said.
According to DSP Dipak Kumar Raya, spokesperson of the District Police Office, Tanahun, the bus fell into Marsyangdi at around 11.30 am on Friday.
Last month, two buses carrying 65 passengers were washed away by a landslide into the swollen Trishuli River in Nepal.
The bodies from the two buses were washed away down the Trishuli River as far as 100 kilometres.
Extensive search operations, including the deployment of a 12-member team from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), have not yet located the two missing buses and many passengers swept away by the landslide. The bodies of five Indian nationals have been recovered so far while two are still missing.
Nepal’s rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned them murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.
Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.
