KATHMANDU: Over 60 people are missing in Nepal following a landslide triggered by heavy rains swept two buses off a highway and into a river, local authorities said.
Search and rescue teams were combing the site for survivors of the mishap in the central district of Chitwan, local official Khimananda Bhusal said.
Bhusal stated that the buses were carrying around 66 people between them but three passengers had been able to escape before they crashed into the waterway and were shifted to the hospital.
He said that they have no idea about the total number because the buses could have picked up others on the road. He said, “The river has swollen and no one else has been found yet.”
According to AFP, the mishap took place along the Narayanghat-Mugling highway, about 100 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu. Napal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal expressed deep sorrow over the accident in a post on social media.
The PM said, “I direct all departments of the government, including the home administration, to search for and effectively rescue all the passengers.”
Deadly crashes are relatively common in the country because of poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and irresponsible driving. Road travel becomes lethal during monsoon season as rains trigger landslides and floods in the country.
