BHARATPUR, July 13: The families of those who have gone missing in the accident that led to two passenger buses plunging into the Trishuli river in Chitwan have demanded that the search be made more effective. They have urged the concerned authorities to mobilize all resources at disposal using necessary technology and tools to search for their loved ones.
Two passenger buses including one heading to Gaur from Kathmandu (03-001 Kha. 2495) and another going to Kathmandu from Birgunj (03-006 Kha. 1516) were swept away by landslides into the Trishuli river on Friday morning at Simaltal, falling under Bharatpur metropolis-29.
Bikesh Kumar Patel, a resident of Gaur in Rautahat, who came to Chitwan on Friday after learning that his grandfather was one among those in the ill-fated bus, said both the victim families and the entire village were in a state of mourning following the accident.
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Likewise, Ramesh Kumar Patel from Rautahat also came to Chitwan on Friday looking for his cousin in the bus. He said that he had reserved an ambulance but the hope of finding him alive was fading. Patel said, “If we could only find his body, we would return home. There is no other hope."
Meanwhile, Chairperson of Parasouni Rural Municipality in Bara, Binod Prasad Jaiswal, complained about the delay in the search for the missing persons. In the accident site after finding out that his two neighbors were in the bus, Jaiwal complained that the state, which uses all the mechanisms in the case of helicopter and aircraft accidents, had failed to pay much attention to bus accidents.
Stating that more than fifty families are suffering following the accident, he requested the concerned authorities to mobilize all mechanisms of the state to find them soon.
Chief District Officer of Chitwan Indradev Yadav said that all the trained groups of Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police were on duty throughout the day on Friday. "However, the flow and current of water in the river has not receded. Hence, we were forced to postpone the search on Friday night, which resumed this morning," he said.
The bus headed to Gaur from Kathmandu was carrying 27 passengers while 24 people were aboard the bus en route to Kathmandu from Birgunj. Among them, three people have survived miraculously by swimming out of the flooded river.
