Kathmandu: The body of a 40-year-old Indian national was recovered by rescuers on Saturday, the first from the two buses carrying over 60 passengers that were swept away by a landslide into a rain-swollen river on Friday. The first body of Rishi Pal Shahi, 40, from India, was recovered 50 km away from the accident site and was found half covered by sand in the Narayani River, according to police.
Authorities said the deceased person was carrying an identity card that showed he was from India. Other missing Indian nationals, seven in total, are earlier identified as Santosh Thakur, Surendra Sah, Adit Miyaan, Sunil, Shahnawaj Alam, and Ansari. More than 50 people in total are missing as rescuers and divers from Nepal's security forces are continuing search operations in the area.
The two buses carrying more than 60 passengers were pushed into the Trishuli river in the Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district. Heavy rains and the rise in Trishuli River's water level have hampered rescue and relief efforts.
Reports came in earlier that the Kathmandu-bound Angel bus and Ganpati Deluxe, en route to Gaur from the Capital, met with the accident at around 3:30 am at the Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district. At least 41 people were travelling on the Ganpati Deluxe and 24 on the bus travelling to the Nepal capital. Three of the passengers on the Ganpati Deluxe bus managed to escape after jumping out of the vehicle.
Rescue efforts resume on Saturday
Rescue efforts began with over 75 personnel from all three security forces, but heavy rain and high water levels in the Trishuli River hampered search efforts, according to the authorities. Rescuers resumed search operations on Saturday as the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and armed police personnel along with deep divers mobilised to locate bodies and possible survivors.
According to local reports, the Armed Police Force (APF) deployed a water drone to find the missing buses in the Trishuli River. DSP Shailendra Thapa, co-spokesperson of APF, said that a search operation has been resumed by using a sonar camera through pipeline inspection. More than 500 security personnel are involved in the search operations, according to a police official.
All the flights from Kathmandu to Bharatpur, Chitwan were cancelled on Friday for the day due to persisting rains as rescue workers have started clearing the debris from the landslide. Dozens of people have been killed in Nepal in the past few weeks due to inclement weather-related incidents.
(with inputs from agency)
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