Ambika Basnet, 60, of Fattepur-4, Saptari and Rameshwar Chaudhary of Inaruwa-3, Sunsari are the only persons identified dead while the identity of eight others remains unknown till late Monday evening. [break]
Three died on the spot, two breathed their last at Sunsari District Hospital, Inaruwa while the rest succumbed to their injuries at Neuro Hospital in Biratnagar, police said.
The chief of District Police Office, Sunsari, SP Bhupal Kumar Bhandari said seven of the injured are critical while six have returned home following treatment. The accident occurred when a bus going to Fattepur from Biratnagar (Na 3 Kha 2370) and another going to Biratnagar from Bhagalpur, Udayapur (Na 2 Kha 3835) collided head on in the afternoon.
"The buses were mangled while all passengers were injured with most of them suffering broken limbs," injured Bhola Sonarkar of Kanchanpur, Saptari said.
Passenger of the bus going to Biratnagar Gopi Maya Rai said the accident occurred after the bus she was traveling went out of control after a tire burst and hit the other bus.
"I don´t remember anything else as I opened my eyes only at the hospital," Rai added. Police also attributed the accident to technical glitches.
"The accident occurred due to some technical reasons. We are not in position to be specific about the problem as of now," SP Bhandari told Republica. Inspector Rajendra Parajuli, who was involved in the rescue operation, said most of the passengers were unconscious when the team reached the spot.
"Some of them were crying for help but over half of them regained consciousness only at the hospital," inspector Parajuli said.
Meanwhile, six policemen were injured when a police van taking the injured passengers to hospital hit another passenger bus (Na 4 Kha 4028). "The police van lost control due to slippery road caused by rain and hit the bus," Dilli Ram Poudel from Chitwan, a passenger of the bus, said.
Transportation along the Koshi Barrage-Itahari road stretch of the East-West Highway was disrupted for a few hours following the accident.
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