Nepal confirms 65 people on board buses missing in river, as 14 bodies recovered

world
Nepal Confirms 65 People On Board Buses Missing In River, As 14 Bodies Recovered
The two buses were on the key highway connecting Kathmandu to southern parts of Nepal when they were swept away in the Trishuli river. Photo: PA Images
Share this article

Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press

There were 65 people on board the two buses that were swept into a swollen river in Nepal, but rescuers have so far only recovered 14 bodies, authorities said on Tuesday.

Eight of the bodies have been identified and are being handed over to relatives. Six of them were Indian nationals.

Advertisement

The two buses were on the key highway connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when a landslide pushed them into the Trishuli river near Simaltal, about 120km west of Kathmandu on Friday morning.

The bodies were washed as far as 100km down the river.

Nepal Landslide
Rescuers have yet to find any trace of the two missing buses in the Trishuli river, which is murky brown and swollen from heavy monsoon rains (Nepal Armed Police Force/AP)

Advertisement

The Chitwan District Administration Office published a list with names and details of the 65 people who were on board. There were 38 people on one bus and 27 on the other.

Three people survived after being ejected from one of the vehicles.

Hundreds of rescuers from the police and army searched the river and downstream areas on Tuesday but have yet to find any trace of the two missing buses.

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.

Advertisement

Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com