14 killed, 5 injured in bus accident in Nepal

Kathmandu, March 10

At least 14 people, including a child, were killed and five others injured when a passenger bus skidded off a hilly road and fell 300 metres off the road in eastern Nepal on Thursday, police said.

The accident happened around 7:30 am when the bus carrying 20 passengers, en route to Damak in Jhapa from Madi, Sankhuwasava, skidded and fell 300 metres down the hilly road after the driver lost control of the vehicle.

“In the accident at least 14 people have been killed. The identities of the deceased are yet to be ascertained,” said a senior police officer.

Those killed in the accident include two elderly men and an eight-year-old boy.

All five people who sustained serious injuries have been airlifted to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan in a Nepal Army chopper for medical treatment, the police said.

“The bus fell down around 300 meters off the hilly road. The police have been carrying out rescue works with the help of local people,” police said.

Road accidents are very common in Nepal, especially in the country’s mountainous areas.

Last month a passenger vehicle carrying a newly-wed couple and some of the wedding attendants skidded off a hilly road in Western Nepal, killing eight people and injuring five others.