Kathmandu, 23 Aug

At least 14 people were killed and 16 others injured after an Indian tourist bus veered off the highway and fell 150 metres into the fast-flowing Marsyangdi River in central Nepal on Friday, authorities said.

The bus from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh was heading towards Nepal's capital Kathmandu from the resort town of Pokhara when it drove off the highway in Aaina Pahara in the Tanahun district. There were 43 people, including the driver and the co-driver, in the bus with the registration number UP 53 FT 7623.

The passengers onboard the bus were part of a group of 104 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra in three buses two days ago for a 10-day tour of the Himalayan nation, MyRepublica news portal reported. They came from Bhusal village in Jalgaon district. After visiting Pokhara for two days, all three buses left for the capital Kathmandu on Friday morning.

Madhav Prasad Paudel, chief of the Armed Police Force (APF), Kurintar, said that most of the passengers travelling in the three buses were families and relatives. "An Indian tourist bus travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu with around 43 Indians fell 150 metres into Marshyandi River today," the Embassy of India said in a post on X.

The mission is coordinating with local authorities undertaking relief and rescue. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police of the APF Shailendra Thapa, 14 bodies were retrieved from the crash site and 16 injured were rushed to a local hospital.  The bus that fell on the river bank has been badly damaged.

An MI 17 helicopter of the Nepal Army has left for the accident site at Anbu Khaireni in Tanahun district with a medical team for the rescue operation, MyRepublica reported. The Gandaki Province Police Office, Pokhara, said 15 of those rescued can speak.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has sent an SDM to the incident site in Nepal where a bus carrying over 40 Indian passengers plunged into a river. An ADM has also been appointed to coordinate the relief work.

Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner GS Naveen Kumar in a press statement said, "As per media reports and further confirmed from the MEA Nepal Division, today at about 11:30 am, a bus with registration number - UP 53 FD 7623 carrying approx 41 passengers from Maharashtra, including the driver and one assistant, fell around 150 metres into river Marshyandi in Ambukhereni region in the Tanahu District of Nepal.”

The statement added, "The UP government has sent SDM Maharajganj to the incident site. The MEA is coordinating the search and rescue operations with local authorities."

Nepal's rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned them murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.

Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country. Last month, two buses carrying 65 passengers were washed away by a landslide into the swollen Trishuli River in Nepal.

The bodies from the two buses were washed away down the Trishuli River as far as 100 kilometres.

Extensive search operations, including the deployment of a 12-member team from India's National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), have not yet located the two missing buses and many passengers swept away by the landslide. The bodies of five Indian nationals have been recovered so far while two are still missing.