22 dead, 16 hurt in Nepal road accident

At least 22 people, including a woman, were killed and 16 others injured, when a bus they were travelling in skidded off the highway and fell 100 metres into a river in Nepal’s Chitwan district on Friday.

The passenger bus was heading for Pokhara from Gaur in Rautahat district when it plunged into the swelling Trishuli river, Chitwan Police Chief, Superintendent of Police Basanta Kunwar was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.

Police and locals rescued the injured and pulled out bodies from the wreckage as the bus was submerged. The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Bharatpur and the deceased are yet to be identified. The search operations for missing persons is on, he said.

The cause of the accident has not been ascertained yet.

Road accidents in Nepal are generally blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and substandard roads. Last week, 31 people were killed when a bus skidded off the road and fell 300 meters down the hill in central Nepal.