Rescue operation underway after two buses were swept away by a landslide and pushed into a swollen river at Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district, Nepal. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Rescuers have recovered a total of seven bodies from the river that two buses full of people were swept into by a landslide, officials said on July 15.

Rescuers were able to find the bodies in different locations on the riverbanks as the search continues for the missing buses and people on board.

Government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal said the bodies were identified and relatives contacted. Three of the dead are Indians and the remaining four are Nepali nationals.

The buses were on the key highway connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when they were swept away Friday morning near Simaltal, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kathmandu.

The first body was recovered Sunday some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from where the buses fell.

Weather conditions improved Saturday and search teams were able to cover more ground in the hunt for the missing buses and passengers. Heavy equipment had cleared much of the landslides from the highway, making it easier to reach the area as rescuers expanded their scope toward the southern region from where the first body was found, Bhusal said.

The government has imposed a ban on passenger buses traveling at night in the areas where weather warnings are posted, according to the Home Ministry.

Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on June 29 killed at least nine people including an entire family while they were sleeping in Nepal’s mountainous districts, officials said.

The landslides buried houses in three separate areas in the country’s mountainous region, about 250 kilometers (156 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.

Five members of the same family were killed when their house was swallowed by a landslide while they were asleep at Malika village in Gulmi district. The victims included a couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren including an 8-month-old girl.

Two more people were killed in neighboring Baglung district and another two in Syangja districts, officials said.

The monsoon season that brings heavy rainfall in Nepal began earlier this month. It generally triggers landslides in the mountainous areas that cover most part of this Himalayan nation, causing deaths and damage until September.