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34 Indian pilgrims killed in Nepal bus accident

Vehicle was overloaded The bus was carrying 100 to 120 Hindu pilgrims, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, to a temple in Nawalparasi district, 150 km west of the capital Kathmandu The ill-fated bus veered off a rain-slicked highway and fell into the flooded irrigation canal, the police said The bus was overloaded, which might be the main reason of the accident

Kathmandu, July 15
At least 34 Indians were among the 39 pilgrims who were killed today when tragedy struck their overcrowded bus that skidded off a slippery road and plunged into a swollen canal in southern Nepal.

The bus was carrying 100 to 120 Hindu pilgrims, mostly from Uttar Pradesh, to a temple in Nawalparasi district, 150 km west of the capital Kathmandu, police officials in Nawalparasi district said.

While 39 bodies were retrieved till late afternoon, 27 persons who were on board the bus were still missing.

The accident site — Gandak Canal — is located some 250 km south west of Kathmandu.

Nepalese army and police personnel carry the victims of a bus accident near the pilgrimage site of Triveni, Nawalparasi, in Nepal on Sunday. — AFP

Officials said 37 of the 39 bodies have been identified so far, and only three of them were of Nepalese citizens, others were Indians.

The victims include 28 men, 10 women and a five-year-old girl.

A team from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, with a doctor and an official from the Consulate General of India, Birgunj, were dispatched to the site of the accident near the Indo-Nepal border.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu also set up a control room to provide information about Indian nationals involved in bus accident.

The ill-fated bus veered off a rain-slicked highway and fell into the flooded irrigation canal, the police said. Most of the passengers were Indian nationals who were going to attend the Bolbam festival in Tribenighat, they said, adding the death toll may go up. Ten Indians were also injured, the police said. — PTI