12 die as another bus nosedives in Kailali

 NOV 29, 2014, DHANGADHI/DOTI -

In yet another accident blamed on reckless driving, a bus skidded off the road and fell over a cliff at Sahajpur-2 on the Bhimdutta Highway in Kailali district on Saturday morning, killing 12 and injuring 30 people.

The vehicle (Na 5 Kha 5420) fell 100 metres just after Friday midnight. Police said the bus was headed for Mahendranagar from Dipayal, the district headquarters of Doti, with 42 passengers on board. The incident site is about 50km north of Attariya, Kailali.

Survivors blame careless driving for the disaster. “The driver got off the vehicle complaining of a flat tyre. The vehicle veered off the road as he had left the driving seat,” said Harka Bahadur Khadka at Padma Hospital in Attariya. He charged that the driver had abandoned the vehicle in the middle of the road with the engine running.

Police officials who reached the site after the incident also suspected driver’s negligence. “The road is not narrow and steep. The driver could stop the vehicle on his side,” said traffic police head constable Tularam Shahi.

Driver Janakraj Giri and his assistant Navin Bhatta are in police custody. The driver told the police that he had failed to control the bus.

Eight passengers died on the spot while four others succumbed to injuries during treatment. Security personnel reached the site 45 minutes after the incident and rescued the victims.

Six critically injured patients have been taken to hospitals across the border in India. The deceased are from Doti district, seven of them from Daud VDC. Most of the victims were India-bound for employment.

Four more bodies, toll reaches 52

JAJARKOT: Four more bodies were recovered from the Bheri river on Saturday, raising the toll from last week’s bus plunge to 52. Bodies of Karna Bahadur Khadka of Lahan-2 and his son Bipin, Kalika Malla of Dhime-1 and driver Laxman Chaudhary were recovered. The Surkhet-bound bus had swerved off the road and plunged 80 metres into the river on the Chhinchu-Jajarkot road on November 20. Two are still missing. (PR)