14 killed and more missing after pilgrim bus crashes off road in Nepal
23 August 2024, 10:54
Police and army rescuers were helping to pull people from the wreckage near Abukhaireni.
At least 14 people have been killed and 16 injured after a bus carrying dozens of Indian pilgrims crashed off a major road in Nepal, officials said.
The bus veered off Prithvi Highway and fell nearly 500ft towards a fast-flowing river, stopping on the rocky bank.
The top part of the bus was ripped open, but the wreckage did not fall into the Marsyangdi river.
Armed Police Force spokesperson Shailendra Thapa said that, among those pulled out of from the bus, 14 were declared dead and 16 were injured.
There were 43 people on the bus and all of them were Indian nationals, according to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Police and army rescuers were helping to pull people from the wreckage near Abukhaireni, a town about 75 miles west of the capital Kathmandu.
The bus from the neighbouring Indian town of Gorakhpur was heading towards Kathmandu from the resort town of Pokhara on Friday when it drove off the road.
In July, two buses were swept away by landslides close to Friday’s accident site. Of the 65 people on board those two buses, only three survived and only about half the bodies were recovered.
The wreckage of those buses has not been found but authorities have continued to search.
Bus accidents in Nepal are mostly due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles and much of the country is covered by mountains with narrow roads.
