Nepal: 14 dead after Indian pilgrim bus plunges into river

Fourteen people died and 16 were injured after a bus carrying dozens of pilgrims from India plunged into a river in Nepal, authorities said Friday.

Coming in the middle of the monsoon season, it was the second accident involving buses in that part of the Asian country in a month.

What do we know?

The bus from the neighboring Indian town of Gorakhpur, which lies to the Nepalese border, was heading toward the capital Kathmandu from Pokhara when it careered off the highway.

The accident happened on the Prithvi highway, near Abukhaireni, a town about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu.

After leaving the highway, the bus rolled toward a fast-flowing Marsyangdi river, before stopping on the rocky bank, the Associated Press reported. The top part of the bus had been ripped open.

Police official Deepak Kumar Raya said the bus was carrying around four dozen passengers.

Armed Police Force spokesperson Shailendra Thapa said that, among those pulled out of the bus, 14 were declared dead and 16 were injured. Several people are thought to be missing.

Fourteen of the 29 passengers pulled out of the bus were found unconscious and were rushed to hospitals nearby, the AP reported.

Police and army teams were helping to pull people from the wreckage, according to media reports.

They had to climb down long ladders to reach the river, before using ropes to pull out the injured and dead.

The relief commissioner from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh said a senior official was being sent to the site to coordinate with Nepalese authorities, ANI news agency reported.

Second deadly bus crash in a month

Last month, two buses were swept away by landslides not too far from Friday's accident site.

Of the 65 people on board the two buses only three survived and only about half the bodies were recovered.

The other bodies were washed away down the Trishuli River as far as 100 kilometers away, The Hindu reported.

The wreckage of those buses has not been found yet but authorities have continued to search.

Bus accidents in Nepal are mostly due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles and much of the country is covered by mountains with narrow roads.

More than 170 people have died since monsoon rains hit the South Asian country in mid-June, including 109 people in landslides.

Other deaths have been caused by floods and lightning, according to Nepal's disaster authority. 

mm/rc (AP, Reuters, AFP)