11, including ex-minister, dead in bus accident in Nepal

KATHMANDU. KAZINFORM - An overloaded passenger bus veered off a road and plunged some 100 meters in a hill district in eastern Nepal on Thursday, leaving 11 people including a former government minister dead, police said.
None
None

The accident happened in drizzling conditions at 12:15 p.m. at Sidhuwa village of Dhankuta district, located about 200 kilometers east of Kathmandu, as the bus carrying 55 people from Sankhuwasabha district was heading to Dharan town in Sunsari district, Kyodo reports.

Seven people died on the spot, and another four succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospitals or in the course of treatment, police officer Bindilal Chaudhary told Kyodo News from the site of the accident by phone.

Hari Raj Khewa, who is among the deceased, was elected a Maoist lawmaker in the 2008 general election and later served as minister of state for finance under the Baburam Bhattarai government between 2011 and 2013.

The bus lost control at a sharp turn where the road also sloped downhill, Chaudhary said.

"The preliminary investigation suggests the brakes of the bus failed, leading to the accident," he said.

Forty-four injured passengers are being treated at local hospitals.

Overloading and poor maintenance of vehicles and roads frequently leads to accidents in Nepal's hill areas, especially in the rainy season, which lasts from June to September.

Source: Kyodo

Currently reading