At least 27 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra for a 10-day tour were killed and 16 others injured after a tourist bus veered off the highway and fell into fast-flowing Marsyangdi river in central Nepal on Friday, police said.
The incident occurred at Anbookhaireni area in Chitawan district when the bus from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh carrying 43 passengers, including the driver and two helpers, was heading towards Kathmandu from Pokhara.
While 16 people died on the spot, 11 succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment, Deputy Spokesperson of Armed Police Force (APF) Shailendra Thapa told PTI.
Indian passenger bus with 40 people plunges into Marayangdi river in Nepal. | Photo Credit: X:@ani_digital
Sixteen people who sustained injuries have been airlifted to Kathmandu and admitted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, he said.
The bodies will be handed over to their family members after post-mortem, Mr. Thapa said, adding that the post-mortem will be conducted on Saturday.
The bus with a U.P. number plate that fell around 150 metres down the hilly road is still lying in the banks of Marsyangdi river and will be lifted with the help of a crane on Saturday, he said.
Mr. Thapa said 250 security personnel, including from Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police, were mobilised for rescue works. A twin rope was used to conduct the rescue operation as the accident site lies in a deep and narrow gorge near the river, he said.
The reason for the accident is not yet known. The accident site lies in the national highway, some 90 km west of Kathmandu.
According to a local news report, the passengers on board the bus were part of a group of 104 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra in three buses two days ago for a 10-day tour of the Himalayan nation.
They came from Bhusal village in Jalgaon district. After visiting Pokhara for two days, all three buses left for the capital Kathmandu on Friday morning.
Madhav Pad Paudel, chief of the Armed Police Force (APF), Kurintar, said that most of the passengers travelling in these three buses were families and relatives.
A list of names of the 43 passengers who were in the ill-fated bus has been released. The bus was badly damaged.
“An Indian tourist bus travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu with around 43 Indians fell 150 metres into Marshyandi River today,” the Embassy of India said in a post on X.
The mission is coordinating with local authorities undertaking relief and rescue operations.
An MI 17 helicopter of the Nepal Army was deployed to transport injured passengers from the accident site at Anbu Khaireni in Tanahun district with a medical team for the rescue operation, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has sent a Sub-Divisional Magistrate to the accident site. An ADM has also been appointed to coordinate the relief work.
Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner G.S. Naveen Kumar said: “As per media reports and further confirmed from the MEA Nepal Division, today at about 11:30 am, a bus with registration number - UP 53 FD 7623 carrying approx 43 passengers from Maharashtra, including the driver and one assistant, fell around 150 metres into river Marshyandi in Ambukhereni region in the Tanahu District of Nepal.”
The statement added: “The UP government has sent SDM Maharajganj to the incident site. The MEA is coordinating the search and rescue operations with local authorities.”
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.
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.
As at least 27 pilgrims who died in the incident were from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district, the State government has written to the Centre requesting a special flight of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to be arranged to bring back the injured persons as well as the mortal remains of the deceased, officials said in Mumbai.
The victims were from Varangaon, Daryapur, Talvel and Bhusaval in Jalgaon district, 470 kilometres from Mumbai, said an official release here.
In a letter to the Union government, Lahu Mali, director, Disaster Management, Maharashtra, said the bodies and injured persons would be taken to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening, but as it is not possible to transport them back to Maharashtra by a commercial airliner, an IAF plane be arranged.
The State government will bear the expenses of the flight from Gorakhpur to Nashik, the letter said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled the deaths in a message on X. “The (Jalgaon) district collector is in touch with the Maharajganj collector in Uttar Pradesh to bring back the victims and survivors,” he wrote.
Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Anil Patil said the government was in touch with the relief commissioner of Uttar Pradesh and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Senior NCP (SP) leader and former Maharashtra Minister Eknath Khadse said the group of pilgrims had travelled to Ayodhya four days ago. Mr. Khadse, who hails from Jalgaon district, said he visited the families of the victims and survivors after learning about the tragedy.
Union Minister Raksha Khadse, his daughter-in-law, will travel to Kathmandu as she had received permission from the Prime Minister’s Office to oversee the return of the victims and survivors, he added.
The Maharashtra government identified 16 persons from Jalgaon as “reported deceased” .Ramjeet alias Munna, Sarla Rane (42), Bharti Jawade (62), Tulshiram Tawade (62), Sarla Tawade (62), Sandeep Sarode (45), Pallavi Sarode (43), Anup Sarode (22), Ganesh Bharambe (40), Nilima Dhande (57), Pankaj Bhangade (45), Pari Bharambe (8 years) , Anita Patil, Vijaya Jhawade (50), Rohini Jhawade (51) and Prakash Kodi reportedly died in the accident, it said.
