Seven dead as bus plunges into river
Kathmandu, March 6: At least seven people, including a woman, were killed and 30 injured early on Wednesday when a passenger bus plunged into a river in the Bagmati province of Nepal. The Kathmandu-bound passenger bus lost control and fell into the Trishuli River at the Ghatbesi locality, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported. At least seven people, including a woman, died in the accident, according to Gautam KC, Superintendent of Police (SP) at the Dhading District Police Office. At least 30 passengers were injured in the accident and were rescued by the locals along with the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army. “The injured were rescued and taken to Kathmandu for further treatment after primary aid at a local health facility,” the report quoted Gautam as saying. The deceased are yet to be identified, according to the report. The driver of the bus was arrested by the police. The death toll is expected to rise. (PTI)
Two soldiers killed by millitants
Peshawar, March 6: Two Pakistani soldiers were killed and one injured on Wednesday when militants attacked a team of the paramilitary Frontier Corps during a search operation in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The paramilitary force team was conducting a search operation in the Sapari area of the Bannu District bordering Afghanistan after they came under attack while climbing a mountainous track, according to local sources. The fleeing militants opened fire at the team, killing two soldiers and injuring one. The dead and the injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital, Bannu, sources said. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the attack on the security and eulogised the services of the security in the war against terrorism. Pakistan has witnessed a steady rise in terror attacks. (PTI)
SL hopes to clinch debt repayment moratorium
Colombo, March 6: Sri Lanka hopes to avoid repaying debt till December 2027 after the completion of the ongoing restructuring process and repay them in the period running up to 2042, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Wednesday, as he defended his unpopular reform plans to revive the bankrupt economy. Sri Lanka is currently stuck with debt restructuring with negotiations taking a long to reach an agreement. “By 2022, Sri Lanka had to meet external debt repayments worth 6 billion per year. It is 9.5 per cent of the GDP and an amount hard to sustain,” he said. “We hope to reduce this to 4.5 per cent of the GDP by debt restructuring”, Wickremesinghe, stressed. Sri Lanka in the second quarter of 2022 had declared bankruptcy announcing the island’s first ever sovereign default. (PTI)
Four migrants found dead, 64 rescued
Barcelona, March 6: Four migrants were found dead and 64 were rescued when a boat from Mauritania reached Spain’s Canary Islands after a dangerous Atlantic journey from West Africa, Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service said. The migrants arrived on the island of El Hierro late on Tuesday evening, with the survivors including two women and nine minors. Nearly 12,000 migrants fleeing poverty, conflict, instability in West Africa have landed on the Spanish archipelago in January and February. (AP)