Only the body of Sharan Pradhan has been identified so far. His body was found some 100 meters down from the road on Monday morning, police said. [break]
(This is update on the following story)
Five vehicles have been buried and 14 people have gone missing in a landslide that hit the Harkate-Haspokhari road section of the highway.
The landslide, which occurred at around 8 pm, buried a car (Me 1 Cha 1256). Eight people including Sharan Shrestha, his wife, sister and sister-in-law and children, who were traveling in the car, have gone missing, police said. [break]
According to police inspector Bishnu Hari Ghimire, who was at the site when the mishap happened, other five missing are Indian nationals. Their identities are yet to be established.
Also Ajit Yelmu from Pashupatinagar, who was driving his car has gone missing. Some wreckages of his car have been recovered. Two pickup vans and a truck have also been buried in the landslide. The incident site lies in Kolbung VDC-1.
Seven people who were traveling in one of the pickup vans were rescued soon after the incident. It is not clear how many people were aboard the truck at the time of mishap.
All of the vehicles were coming to Ilam from Jhapa. Traffic movement on the Mechi Highway has been obstructed due to the landslide. Police, armymen and locals are carrying out search and rescue works since early this morning.
Photos: Bhim Chapagain
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