Six die in Nepalgunj truck-microbus collision, 17 injured

Published On: October 7, 2018 05:00 AM NPT By: Arjun Oli

NEPALGUNJ, Oct 7: At least six people lost their lives while 17 others sustained injuries when a microbus collided head-on with a truck near Muguwa River of Raptisonari Rural Municipality-2 in Banke district on Saturday morning.

The microbus with registration number Ra 1 Kha 1662 was en route to Nepalgunj from Dang along the East-West Highway when it collided with the truck (Lu 1 Kha 7729), which was heading toward the opposite direction from Nepalgunj to Butwal.

The accident site is around four kilometers east of Shamshergunj, the main office of Banke National Park. Over-speeding is believed to have caused the accident, according to police. The microbus had been reportedly overtaking other vehicles before it collided with the truck at around 9 am.

Area Police Office (APO), Kohalpur has identified the deceased as Tulsi Rawat, Basanti Chaudhary, 27, Narayani Shreesh, 40, and the microbus driver Sugane Chaudhary, 33, all from Tulsipur. Likewise, the accident also claimed the lives of Dorona Budhathoki, 30, of Sharada Municipality and Man Kumari Rawat, 51, of Shantinagar-7.

“We have already identified all the deceased. Their bodies are currently at Kohalpur,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Ramesh Bahadur Singh, chief of the APO.

Four of them had died on the spot while two others breathed their last while undergoing treatment at Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital, informed Banke's Chief District Officer Madan Bhujel. The injured are currently receiving treatment in the same hospital.

Over-speeding is highly prevalent along the East-West Highway. Especially the Kholpur-Kusum road section of the highway has become very dangerous of late due to over-speeding. Police Inspector Hirendra Rokaya, chief of Banke's District Traffic Police Office, said that most of the accidents along the road section are caused by over-speeding.

“Drivers in the highway try to overtake other vehicles in high speed and in a very unsafe manner. This is the major reason behind road accidents here,” said Rokaya.