Twin bus accident: Two bodies recovered in India

KATHMANDU: Two bodies, believed to be passengers from one of the two buses swept into the Trishuli River by a landslide at Simaltal on the Mugling-Narayanghat road last Friday, have been recovered in India.

DSP Shailendra Thapa, the joint spokesperson for the Armed Police Force (APF), reported that India’s border security force, Seema Surakshya Bal (SSB), recovered two bodies from the Gandaki River bank in India. The Trishuli River is known as Gandak in India.

Rescue workers have retrieved 23 bodies from the two buses so far, with 14 identified. The buses were carrying a total of 65 passengers.

Among the identified victims, nine were from the Ganapati Deluxe bus heading to Rautahat from Kathmandu: Rishipal Shah, Ramitkushar Majhi, Jayprakash Thakur, Kishor Kumar Chaudhary (driver), Ashok Kumar Yadav, Rishi Kumar Singh, Vivek Kumar, Jitendra Ram Mahara and Amrita Kumari. Likewise, five of them – Bikash Pariyar, Sajad Ansari, Sudip BK, Parmananda Pandit, and Chandra Prabha Kumari – were on Angel Bus coming to Kathmandu from Birgunj.

The District Administration Office in Chitwan had previously requested coordination and facilitation from the Indian District Magistrate, anticipating that some bodies might have been carried into India by the river.