Rescuer workers searching for the two buses in Narayani River. Photo: Armed Police Force
BHARATPUR: The families of those who have gone missing in the accident that caused two passenger buses to plunge into the Trishuli river in Chitwan have demanded a more effective search operation. They have requested the concerned authorities to mobilize all available forces using the 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, under Bharatpur metropolis-29.
Bikesh Kumar Patel of Gaur in Rautahat, who came to Chitwan on Friday after his grandfather was on the ill-fated bus, said that the family and the village were mourning following the accident.
Likewise, Ramesh Kumar Patel from Rautahat also came to Chitwan on Friday looking for his cousin who was on the bus. He said that he had reserved an ambulance but the hope of finding his cousin alive was fading. Patel said, “If we could only find his body, we would return home. There is no other hope.”
Meanwhile, the chairperson of Parasouni Rural Municipality in Bara, Binod Prasad Jaiswal, complained about the delay in the search for the missing persons. At the accident scene after discovering that his two neighbors were on the bus, Jaiswal complained that the state, which uses all mechanisms in the case of helicopter and aircraft accidents, did not pay much attention to bus accidents.
Saying that more than fifty families are suffering, he requested the concerned authorities to mobilize all state mechanisms to find them soon.
Chief District Officer of Chitwan Indradev Yadav said that all trained groups of the Nepal Army, Armed Police, and Nepal Police were on duty throughout the day on Friday. “However, the flow and current of the river have not decreased. Hence, we were forced to postpone the search on Friday night, which has resumed this morning,” he said.
The bus headed to Gaur was carrying 27 passengers while 24 people were aboard the bus coming to Kathmandu. Among them, three passengers miraculously survived by swimming out of the flooded river.
