BANEPA, Aug 16: As many as *27 people were killed and 39 were injured in a bus accident in Birtadeurali VDC-9, Khaharekhola of Kavrepalanchowk district on Monday.

An overloaded bus (Ba 2 Kha 106) en route to Kattike Deurali from Kathmandu skidded off the road and fell about 300 meters down on Monday afternoon. The bus had slid backward on an uphill road and fell even though the driver applied the brakes, according to eyewitnesses.

Earlier, Rajesh Nath Basnet, chief of the District Police Office, Kavrepalanchowk, had informed the media that they recovered bodies of 33 deceased from the accident site.

But today a senior police official of the police headquarters said that only 27 people died in the accident. "Twenty-six people died on the spot and one at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital," he told Republica Online. 

Authorities are preparing to perform post mortem of the victims by calling doctors to the incident site. Most of the deceased and the injured are from Kattike Deurali, Birtadeuralai and Madankudari VDCs, informed locals.

“Continuous rainfall throughout the day has hindered our rescue operation. But we will continue the search and rescue operation despite difficulties,” said Chief District Officer Bal Krishna Panthi.

Among the injured, 26 with serious injuries were airlifted to Kathmandu and are undergoing treatment at Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Trauma Center and Dirgahyu Hospital in the capital. The remaining 13 are undergoing treatment at Dhulikhel Hospital.

Driving in a narrow road with overload had caused the accident, according to Babu Krishna Pant, former Village Development Committee chairman of Birtadeurali. Over 70 passengers were travelling in the bus, including on its rooftop, he informed.

Three killed in road accident in Baitadi

Three people died while 14 others sustained injuries when a bus (Na 5 Kha 2832) heading toward Bajhang from Dhangadhi skidded off a dirt road and fell some 150 meters at Siddheshwar VDC-3 of Baitadi along the Jayaprithvi Highway at 3 around pm Monday, according to our Baitadi correspondent Bira Gadal.

Police said they are yet to ascertain the identities of the victims. The District Police Office (DPO), Baitadi, informed that the injured have been taken to Sub-regional Hospital in Dadeldhura for treatment.

*The earlier report that 33 people were killed in the accident has been corrected. The inadvertent misinformation is regretted - Editor 

 
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