KATHMANDU, Nov 5: Three pedestrians were killed at Chabahil on Thursday afternoon when a passenger bus (Ba 2 Kha 850) belonging to Swayambhu Yatayat climbed onto the sidewalk and hit them. [break]
In the protest that followed, an angry crowd torched three vehicles, according to police.
The deceased have been identified as Rama Rai of Khotang and Nagendra Chaudhary and Dhaniram Chaudhary of Bara. The latter two died on the spot and Rai died while receiving treatment at Om Hospital. Gopi Shrestha, who was injured in the incident, is also receiving treatment at Om. Chaudhary duo had come to Kathmandu to go abroad for jobs.
The bus headed for Maharajgunj from Chabahil hit the three pedestrians on the Ring Road sidewalk in front of Gopi Krishna cinema around 3:30 p.m.
The bus driver fled the scene. A crowd that gathered after the incident blocked traffic and torched three vehicles, all belonging to Syawambhu Yatayat, including the one that killed the pedestrians. The other two vehicles are Ba 2 Kha 925 and Ba 1 Kha 6525. The locality remained tense till 4:30 p.m. and police had to intervene.
Hundred and twenty police personnel were deployed to bring the situation under control. Police had to baton-charge protestors, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Govinda Pariyar who commanded the police deployment.
The road obstruction threw traffic out of gear at Koteshwar, Baneshwar, Maitidevi, Battisputali and Maharajgunj. Traffic returned to normal only at 5:30 p.m.
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