Kathmandu, Aug 23: At least 18 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra for a 10-day tour were killed after a tourist bus veered off the highway and fell 150 metres into the fast-flowing Marsyangdi River in central Nepal approximately 120 kilometres from the capital on Friday, according to media reports.
The bus from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh was heading towards Nepal’s capital Kathmandu from the resort town of Pokhara when it drove off the highway in Aaina Pahara in the Tanahun district. There were 43 people, including the driver and the co-driver, on the bus with an Indian registration number.
The passengers onboard 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, MyRepublica news portal reported.
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 Prasad Paudel, chief of the Armed Police Force (APF), Kurintar, said that most of the passengers travelling in the three buses were families and relatives.
A list of names of the 43 passengers who were in the ill-fated bus has been released.
“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.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police of the APF Shailendra Thapa, 14 bodies were retrieved from the crash site and 16 injured were rushed to a local hospital.
The bus that fell on the river bank has been badly damaged.
An MI 17 helicopter of the Nepal Army has left for the accident site at Anbu Khaireni in Tanahun district with a medical team for the rescue operation, MyRepublica reported.
The Gandaki Province Police Office, Pokhara, said 15 of those rescued can speak.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has sent a Sub Divisional Magistrate to the incident site. An ADM has also been appointed to coordinate the relief work.
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. (PTI)
