BHARATPUR, March 15 (ANI): At least seven Indian pilgrims were killed in a road accident in central Nepal, while five others are hospitalized and receiving treatment, officials confirmed on Sunday. Two Nepali citizens were also seriously injured in the crash.
The accident occurred when a microbus carrying passengers returning from a pilgrimage to the Manakamana Temple crashed near Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-3 in Gorkha district.
According to Superintendent of Police Bharat Bahadur BK of the District Police Office in Gorkha, seven of the 14 people traveling in the microbus died at the scene.
The deceased include five men and two women, all Indian nationals, police said. Seven other passengers were seriously injured and are currently receiving treatment at the College of Medical Sciences in Bharatpur, Chitwan.
“Indian pilgrims who were on their way back from the Manakamana Temple met with an accident. A total of nine injured were brought to the College of Medical Sciences emergency department late in the evening, and we immediately started treatment,” Sudip Raj KC, Deputy Director at the College of Medical Sciences in Bharatpur, told ANI.
“Out of the nine brought to the hospital, five were in serious condition. Three have been admitted to the neurosurgery ICU, while two are in the surgery ICU and are not in critical condition,” he added.
Police said the vehicle went out of control and plunged about 200 meters down a roadside slope. Except for the driver and co-driver, all the passengers in the vehicle were Indian citizens.
“Yesterday we had gone on a reserved trip along with the pilgrims from Kurintar in Chitwan to the Manakamana Temple via Gorkha district. The vehicle was reserved for one hour, but we stayed there for about four to five hours,” Santosh Gurung, a staff member of the vehicle who was injured in the crash, told ANI while receiving treatment.
“All of them performed their rituals, and on our way back the brakes of the vehicle failed and the accident occurred. The road condition near the site was also not very good. Locals had made a temporary arrangement to drain water from the road,” he said.
Gurung added that the driver had earlier complained that the brakes were not functioning properly while traveling toward the highway.
“At first I thought he was joking, but later it turned out to be true. I was sitting in the front alongside the driver,” he said.
Following the accident, a rescue team from the Armed Police Force Nepal’s No. 29 Battalion in Gorkha and personnel from the District Police Office in Gorkha were deployed to the site.
The bodies have been sent to a hospital for post-mortem examinations, and police said further investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Police identified the victims as Muthu Kumar (58), Anamalik (58), Meenakshi (59), Sivagami (53), Vijayal (57), Meena (58), and Tamilarsi (60), all from India.
The injured passengers undergoing treatment at Chitwan Medical College have been identified as Soranam (62), Mangada Jalam (65), Subhadra (75), Mayal (65), Saroja (73), Bhagyalakshmi (75), and Meenakshi (34). (ANI)
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