More than 60 passengers in twin bus tragedy missing in Trishuli river : Indian national among victims

SHIRISH B PRADHAN, PTI,  13 July, 2024, Kathmandu : A body of a 40-year-old Indian national working in Nepal was among three corpses recovered by rescuers on Saturday from the wreckage of two buses that were swept by a mudslide into a rain-swollen river with more than 50 passengers a day earlier.

The two buses carrying 54 passengers, including seven Indians, went missing in the Trishuli River in the landslides at the Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district on Friday. Three people swam to safety later.

The first body from the buses was recovered in the morning from 50 km away from the accident site. The deceased was identified as Rishi Pal Shahi from India, police said.

The body was found half covered by sand in the Narayani River of Chitwan district, police said, adding that he was carrying an Indian ID.

The rescuers in the afternoon recovered two more dead bodies from the Gaindakot area in East Nawalparasi district, police said, adding that both the deceased were Nepali nationals who were missing in the accident.

They were passengers of the bus heading towards Kathmandu from Birgunj, they said.

Besides Shahi, the other missing Indian nationals were identified as Santosh Thakur, Surendra Sah, Adit Miyaan, Sunil, Shahnawaj Alam, and Ansari.

There were 24 people including seven Indian nationals on board a bus heading towards Kathmandu from Birgunj and another bus heading to Gaur from Kathmandu was carrying 30 local people. The two buses fell into the river as the landslide accompanied by muddy water, triggered by heavy rain, swept them away.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and Chitwan District Police Office spokesperson Bhesh Raj Rijal, the deceased Indian national was a passenger of the bus which was heading to Gaur from Kathmandu, MyRepublica news portal reported.

Shahi was originally from the Rajmunuwa area of Bihar’s Motihari city and used to live and work in Nepal, the report said, quoting his brother.

More than 500 security personnel, including from the Nepali Army and Nepal Police, along with deep divers were mobilised for the search operation, police said. The security personnel are also using motor boats and drones for the rescue operation, they said.

The Armed Police Force (APF) deployed a water drone to find the missing buses in the Trishuli River, the MyRepublica news portal reported.

DSP Shailendra Thapa, co-spokesperson of APF, said that a search operation has been resumed by using a sonar camera through pipeline inspection.

The search operation was stopped on Friday evening as it was not possible to work during the night with high water current coupled with muddy water, the police official said.

The search operation resumed at 8 am Saturday. Rescuers assisted by divers from Nepal’s security forces resumed the search for the missing persons.

Earlier, it was reported that more than 60 people were on board the two buses.

“All possible locations will be searched and we will put all our best efforts into search and rescue,” Thapa said.

Nepal is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis and has witnessed multiple extreme weather events over the past decade and a half.

Evidence suggests that maximum temperatures in Nepal are rising faster, at 0.056 degrees Celsius a year, compared to the global average rise of 0.03 degrees Celsius a year, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

Experts say extreme weather events-excessive rainfall in a short period, continuous rains for several days after the monsoon, dry spells, droughts, below-average precipitation, and above-normal winter temperatures-have become more frequent in Nepal.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority estimates that 1.81 million people and 412,000 households will be affected by monsoon this year. 

More Than 60 Are Missing in Nepal After Landslide Sweeps Buses Into River

Rescuers were searching for two late-night buses that disappeared into the swollen waterway amid Nepal’s deadly monsoon season.

Reuters: More than 60 people are missing after a landslide swept two moving passenger buses into a river swollen by monsoon rains in central Nepal in the early hours of Friday, officials said.

According to a Nepal Police spokesman, Dan Bahadur Karki, the buses were pushed into the Trishuli River by a landslide that roared over a road connecting Chitwan and Kathmandu, Nepal’scapital city.

A vehicle operated by Angel Bus was heading to Kathmandu, and a Ganapati Deluxe-operated bus was en route to Rautahat from the capital, when the accident occurred at around 3:30 a.m., according to the local police. Mr. Karki said 24 passengers were on the bus traveling to Kathmandu, and 41 were on the other bus.

However, three passengers on the Rautahat-bound bus survived by jumping off the bus as it went into the river, he said.

Rescuers from the Nepal Army, the Armed Police Force and the Nepal Police were deployed to the scene soon after the accident, but they have yet to rescue or recover any passengers.

“As many as 250 rescuers equipped with rescue boats are deployed to the place from where the buses plunged into the river,” Mr. Karki said. “Sadly, they haven’t been able to locate the missing buses, either.”

Initially, the collapsed earth from the landslide also blocked the path of rescuers. As the river level rises from more heavy rain, it is increasingly complicating the search-and-rescue operations.

In a separate episode, the driver of another bus on the same section of road died after a boulder hit his vehicle as he drove to Kathmandu from Butwal.

This year, monsoon-related disasters have been deadlier than usual in Nepal, a country particularly vulnerable to climate change. Earlier this month, floods and landslides from seasonal rains killed at least 15 people in 24 hours. On Thursday night, 11 people died in a landslide in Pokhara. Among those killed were seven people from a single family, The Kathmandu Post reported.

The Nepalese agency that deals with disaster management and risk reduction reported that at least 88 people had been killed by monsoon-related landslides, floods and lightning through Thursday.

Expressing concern over certain late-night bus trips, some officials called for adjusting bus operation schedules during monsoons. Rajendra Prasad Pandey, a legislator, proposed banning night bus service.

The monsoon-related death toll is increasing in Nepal at a time when political parties are busy breaking or making alliances to run the government. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal lost a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Friday, a move that will force him to step down after 19 months in office.