At least seven pilgrims, including six Indian pilgrims, died and 19 sustained injuries in a road accident in the Bara district of the southern plains of Nepal, news agency ANI reported citing Nepal Police. The accident occured in the early hours of Thursday.
According to police, the bus was en route to Janakpur from Kathmandu and was carrying Indian pilgrims when a mishap took place near Churiamai in Bara. “Bus overturned and fell some 50 metres down the road at a river bank south of Churiamai Temple at Simara Sub-Metropolitan City-22 along the East-West Highway at around 2 am,” Deputy Superintendent Pradeep Bahadur Chhetri told ANI over the phone.
The police have identified the deceased Indian nationals from India’s Rajasthan State. A Nepali citizen also died in the accident, the police official added. A total of 27 people including two drivers and a helper were in the bus.
In another incident, at least eight people died and 15 were injured in Nepal's Kathmandu after a passenger bus skidded off the main highway and fell into a swollen river in Bagmati province on Wednesday. The accident took place while the bus was en route to the scenic city of Pokhara from Kathmandu. The wheels of the vehicle veered off and it fell into the Trishuli River at Chalise in the province's Dhading district, PTI reported citing myRepublica.com.
Speaking about the incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police Santulal Prasad Jaiswar at the District Police Office, Dhading, said, "In the accident, at least eight people have been killed and 15 more injured. The number of those killed might go up. Rescue is ongoing." He further stated that the bus was partly submerged in the Trishuli River after the accident, however, the rescuers on the spot were able to pull out many of the passengers alive, news agency PTI reported.