SUNDARPUR, Nov 13: Sundarpur Village, around 15 kilometres southeast of Barahathawa in Sarlahi, was bustling with activity ahead of the Chhath festival. Homes were being cleaned, riverbanks prepared for worship, and offerings gathered. Women were making clean earthen stoves to prepare the festival's sacred offerings. No one could have imagined that, within hours, the festive excitement would give way to grief, with families waiting for the bodies of loved ones who had set out to return home for Chhath.
Preparations were underway at the home of Nirmala Devi Yadav in Sundarpur, Ward 4 of Chakraghatta Rural Municipality. Early Wednesday morning, she called her son Awadhesh Yadav, who runs a vegetable business in Kathmandu, and urged him to return home for the festival.
At his mother's request, Awadhesh arranged for his eight-month-pregnant wife, Punam Devi, their three daughters and his two younger brothers to travel home in an electric Hiace. The vehicle was carrying 14 people, including other villagers and the driver. While his family set off for the village, Awadhesh stayed behind in Kathmandu.
At around 3 am on Thursday, Awadhesh called his mother. He told her that he could not come because there was no room left in the vehicle, but that he had sent his wife, daughters and two brothers home.
Nirmala expected them to arrive by breakfast time.
The house was filled with the excitement of Chhath. After having three granddaughters, the family was also looking forward to the birth of a grandson. Doctors had told them that Punam was carrying a boy, and she was due to give birth just a few days after the festival. The family was eagerly awaiting the arrival of its newest member.
But that moment would never come.
Early Thursday morning, news reached Sundarpur that an electric Hiace had met with an accident at Chisapani in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-6 of Makwanpur. The moment Nirmala learned that her family members were among those involved, her world came crashing down. Desperate for information about her daughter-in-law, granddaughters and sons, she rushed to find out about their condition.
Chhath festival being observed today
After hearing that they had been injured, she travelled to Hetauda. But the tragedy she encountered there was beyond words. She was brought back to Sundarpur that night. Now, she struggles to accept that Punam, her three granddaughters and her two sons will never return home.
The grief of losing six family members is not Nirmala's alone. It has become a shared tragedy for the entire village.
Father throws five-year-old son out of window to save him, dies with wife
Nirmala's neighbour, Koshila Devi Yadav, is enduring a similar tragedy. She lost her son, Guddu Yadav, and daughter-in-law, Gayatri Devi Yadav, in the accident.
Twenty-six-year-old Guddu, who ran a vegetable business in Tikathali, Kathmandu, was returning to the village for Chhath with his five-year-old son, Saksham, and three-year-old son, Sujan. But their journey ended in tragedy at Chisapani before they could reach home.
In the terrifying moments of the crash, Guddu threw his five-year-old son, Saksham, out of the vehicle through a window. The boy survived after getting caught in the bushes. But his parents did not.
Saksham is now left to grow up without his mother and father, carrying the painful memory of how he survived the accident. The tragedy has left villagers stunned.
Guddu and Gayatri's deaths have left Koshila bereaved and their two young children without parental care.
Chhath hearths remain cold as village waits for bodies
There is no festive atmosphere in Sundarpur now. No delicacies are being prepared in homes, and there is no excitement about offering prayers at the riverbanks. Thursday was Nahay-Khay, the first day of the Chhath rituals, when families would normally be busy with preparations. Instead, villagers are waiting for the bodies of those who lost their lives.
Some households have lost sons, others daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Some children have been left without parents, while elderly people have lost their children. A single accident has taken away the happiness of numerous families in the village.
The very homes where families had been preparing to cook Chhath offerings now have cold hearths. Courtyards that should have echoed with the laughter of grandchildren are filled with cries of grief. The journey of those returning home to offer prayers to the rising and setting Sun has come to an end forever.
Overcrowding raises questions over road safety
The accident has raised serious questions about passenger vehicle capacity, drivers' responsibilities and road safety. Preliminary details suggest that the Hiace may have been carrying more passengers than its authorised capacity. However, the actual cause of the accident and whether the vehicle was overloaded are yet to be established through an official investigation.
Passenger traffic tends to increase during festivals as people travel to their hometowns. The incident has once again highlighted the need to pay particular attention to the technical condition of vehicles, passenger limits and driver alertness during such periods.
But for Sundarpur, the most pressing question now is when families will get to see the faces of their loved ones one last time.
Nirmala, who had been waiting for her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters to return home for Chhath, will never again hear their footsteps in her courtyard. A family that had been preparing to welcome a new member has lost seven lives, including that of the unborn child.
Chhath offerings may still be made in Sundarpur this year, but happiness will not return to many courtyards. Tears will remain in villagers' eyes, mothers will be left with empty arms, and the childhoods of many children will be shaped by memories of parents they have lost.
The Hiace that set out carrying families returning home to celebrate Chhath has become a source of grief that Sundarpur will never forget.
Fourteen people, including 13 from Sundarpur and the driver, were killed when the electric Hiace met with an accident at Chisapani in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-6 of Makwanpur on Thursday morning. The vehicle bore registration number Madhesh Province 03-001 Ja 0880. Six people were injured.
According to Krishna Kumar Yadav, chairperson of Chakraghatta Rural Municipality, Guddu Yadav, 26, son of Pramod Yadav, and his 24-year-old wife, Gayatri Devi Yadav, died in the accident.
Similarly, Bikesh Yadav, 25, and Sudesh Yadav, 16, sons of Ram Sunar Yadav, also lost their lives.
Awadhesh Yadav's eight-month-pregnant wife, Punam Yadav, and their daughters Anu Yadav, 10, Shiksha Yadav, seven, and Dipika Yadav, six, were also killed.
Likewise, Rakesh Ray, 40, son of Nirasu Ray, and his 14-year-old grandson, Rohan Ray; Subodh Ray, 25, son of Chandeswar Ray; Ram Dular Ray, 25, son of Niras Ray; and Ram Pravesh Ray, 25, son of Amiri Ray, died in the crash. The driver, 30-year-old Rabishankar Mandal of Kabilasi Municipality-8, Sarlahi, was also killed.
The injured have been identified as Mukesh Ray, Devendra Ray, Devendra Ray, also known as Bechu, Saksham Ray, five-year-old son of deceased Guddu Yadav, Sujan Ray, his three-year-old son, and Sudeep Ray, Awadhesh Yadav's 16-month-old son. They are receiving treatment at a hospital, Rural Municipality Chairperson Yadav said.
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