JHANGAJHOLI (SINDHULI), Oct 13: Forty-one people died when a passenger bus (Na 3 Kha 9412) operated by BP Yatayat Sewa Samiti fell 700 meters from a cliff at Gairipuchar in the Mulkot section of the Banepa-Sindhuli-Bardibas road Thursday morning.
The bus crashed onto the bank of the Sunkoshi River at Neuroni and broke into pieces. [break]
The bus had left district headquarters Sindhulimadi for Kathmandu at 5 a.m.. It met with the accident at 10 p.m. at Purano Jhangajholi Village Development Committee Ward No. 4, some 17 kilometers before reaching Nepalthok.
Fifteen people were injured in the accident. Fifty-six people were traveling in the bus, according to BP Yatayat. This is the biggest accident on the Banepa-Sindhuli-Bardibas road so far.
“I heard a loud noise. I looked outside out of curiosity and saw the bus and people falling from the cliff,” said Durga Bahadur Majhi of Dabkha, Bhirpani-7 just across the river. The Nepalthok-Khurkot section of the road where the accident happened is still under construction.
“By the time we reached there, only a few of the people still had a pulse. All of them had head injuries. We started rescue work with the help of those involved in road construction,” Majhi said. According to Majhi, those traveling on the bus roof were thrown onto the cliff slope.
The road construction workers said they themselves narrowly escaped harm.
“The bus made a loud noise. We looked up and were discussing the possibility of a bus having fallen when it actually rolled down. It first fell onto a spot close to where we were and then fell into the river,” said laborers Dhruba Poudel and Dipak Acharya almost in unison.
A jeep accident at the same spot two days ago had left seven people injured. On Wednesday, there was another jeep accident. Thursday´s accident was the third in three consecutive days.
Those riding on the roof of the bus were left with injuries. All those inside the bus died except for Badri Gautam and his six-year-old son Ranjit.
“We had reached the first turn at Gairipuchar. I was in the cabin with my wife and son. I and my son were thrown out of the bus through the window glass. I don´t know where my wife is,” said Gautam of Dandiguranse, Sindhuli, who is now receiving treatment at Dhulikhel Hospital.
Bus driver Pema Lama of Bhadrakali, Sindhuli, was among 21 males who died on the spot. Twelve females and seven children also died on the spot. One person died while being taken to Dhulikhel Hospital. The bus passengers were returning to Kathmandu after celebrating Dashain. Most of them were traveling with family.
The dead passengers who have been identified are Yuvraj Shrestha of Bhimeswar-7, Sindhuli, Khus Bahadur Shrestha of Bhimeswar-8, Sindhuli, Bikash Pariyar of Kamalamai-3, Sindhuli, Singha Bahadur Khadka of Udaypur and 35-year-old Bir Bahadur Tamang of Purano Jhangajholi-9, Sindhuli.
The other dead are yet to be identified.
Police, Armed Police and Nepal Army teams carried out rescue work at the accident site. The deceased have been taken to Sindhuli District Hospital for post mortems.
This is not the first time a passenger bus has met with an accident along this road.
On April 14, 2010, a bus (Ba 2 Kha 7936) operated by Kavre Bus Operators Association met with an accident at Majuwabagar, killing three passengers and injuring over 20.
On May 3 this year, another bus (Ba 2 Kha 3375) fell 200 meters from Ritthebhir along the same road, killing 12 people and injuring 12.
Hajma-Endo Construction, which is building the road, has put up several signs along the road warning buses not to carry passengers over-capacity and not to over-speed.
The Nepali Congress, in a statement, termed the accident a national tragedy and demanded that the government treat the injured and provide relief to the bereaved families. In the statement, Ram Chandra Poudel, vice-president of the party, also demanded a probe into the cause of the accident.
INJURED
- Badri Gautam and his six-year-old son Ranjit, of Dandaguranse, Sindhuli
- Januka Shrestha and her daughter Asha, of Ranichuri, Sindhuli
- Karuna Tamang of Bandipur, Sindhuli
- Narayan Magar and his son Kuber, of Tinkanya, Sindhuli
- Babulal Yonzan of Siddheswar, Sindhuli
- Himal Tamang and Kapil Pokharel, of Bhadrakali, Sindhuli
- Rasmita Shrestha of Lampatar, Sindhuli
- Ramesh Khatri and Swasti KC, of Kathjor, Ramechap
- Jetho Magar of Patlekhet, Kavre
PM directs probe
Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has directed concerned ministries to investigate the cause of the accident and take all possible measures to prevent recurrence of such accidents. Stating the incident shocked him, the prime minister has also paid his tributes to the deceased and expressed condolence to their families.
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