Nepal Police and Armed Force along with other security forces launch a search and rescue operations along Trishuli River in Nepal .
| Photo Credit: ANI

Nepal has formally requested India’s assistance in locating the two buses and over five dozen passengers swept away in the landslide in central Nepal earlier on Friday, July 12 morning.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to India on Monday, July 15, sking for India’s assistance to search for the missing buses and passengers.

“We have written to the Indian government asking for technical assistance, including the divers, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal,” Bhismakumar Bhusal, Joint Secretary at the Disaster and Conflict Management Division under the Home Ministry, confirmed to ANI over the phone.

“All the available resources don’t seem to be enough; that’s why we have asked India for assistance. It’s first time that we’ve asked them for this kind of assistance,” Mr. Bhusal added

.Nepal had asked for Bangladesh’s assistance for a search operation of a similar kind in previous years.

In the letter sent to India, Nepal has sought supporting technologies that would help to trace and retract the dead bodies or possible remains from the Trishuli River, where the two passenger buses were swept into by the landslide.

As per the record till Tuesday morning, a total of 13 bodies of passengers were recovered after the two buses were swept away by a landslide in Bharatpur metropolis-29, Simaltal, Chitwan, on Friday morning.

According to the police, nine bodies were recovered from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), three from Chitwan, and one from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta West). Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Poudel, Information Officer at the District Police Office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), confirmed that four bodies were found in the district on Monday alone.

Of the nine bodies recovered in Nawalpur, the identities of five have been confirmed as passengers from the swept-away buses.The remaining four bodies are yet to be identified but are believed to be among the missing passengers. Two of the bodies were recovered near the Gandak Barrage Bridge, and the other two were found along the Narayani river bank at Madhyabindu-2.

The identified bodies from three districts include 19-year-old Ramit Kasur Majhi of Barahathawa municipality-3 (Sarlahi), Bikas Pariyar, 22, of Madi-1 (Chitwan), Sajad Ansari (30) of Bihar’s Betiya, Rahum Miya (17) of Jamunamai rural municipality-4 (Rautahat), Rishipal Sah, 28, of Sitamadi Barganiya, India, Jay Prakash Thakur (30) of Sitamadi Betiya (India), and Paramananda Pandit (43) of Bara. These bodies have been sent to Bharatpur Hospital.

Nepal Police and Armed Force along with other security forces launch a search and rescue operations along Trishuli River in Nepal .
| Photo Credit: ANI

Nepal has formally requested India’s assistance in locating the two buses and over five dozen passengers swept away in the landslide in central Nepal earlier on Friday, July 12 morning.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to India on Monday, July 15, sking for India’s assistance to search for the missing buses and passengers.

“We have written to the Indian government asking for technical assistance, including the divers, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal,” Bhismakumar Bhusal, Joint Secretary at the Disaster and Conflict Management Division under the Home Ministry, confirmed to ANI over the phone.

“All the available resources don’t seem to be enough; that’s why we have asked India for assistance. It’s first time that we’ve asked them for this kind of assistance,” Mr. Bhusal added

.Nepal had asked for Bangladesh’s assistance for a search operation of a similar kind in previous years.

In the letter sent to India, Nepal has sought supporting technologies that would help to trace and retract the dead bodies or possible remains from the Trishuli River, where the two passenger buses were swept into by the landslide.

As per the record till Tuesday morning, a total of 13 bodies of passengers were recovered after the two buses were swept away by a landslide in Bharatpur metropolis-29, Simaltal, Chitwan, on Friday morning.

According to the police, nine bodies were recovered from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), three from Chitwan, and one from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta West). Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Poudel, Information Officer at the District Police Office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), confirmed that four bodies were found in the district on Monday alone.

Of the nine bodies recovered in Nawalpur, the identities of five have been confirmed as passengers from the swept-away buses.The remaining four bodies are yet to be identified but are believed to be among the missing passengers. Two of the bodies were recovered near the Gandak Barrage Bridge, and the other two were found along the Narayani river bank at Madhyabindu-2.

The identified bodies from three districts include 19-year-old Ramit Kasur Majhi of Barahathawa municipality-3 (Sarlahi), Bikas Pariyar, 22, of Madi-1 (Chitwan), Sajad Ansari (30) of Bihar’s Betiya, Rahum Miya (17) of Jamunamai rural municipality-4 (Rautahat), Rishipal Sah, 28, of Sitamadi Barganiya, India, Jay Prakash Thakur (30) of Sitamadi Betiya (India), and Paramananda Pandit (43) of Bara. These bodies have been sent to Bharatpur Hospital.

New Delhi:

At least six Indians were among more than 60 people believed to be missing in Nepal after two buses were pushed into a river due to a landslide triggered by heavy rain on Friday.

The two buses, carrying 65 passengers, went missing in the Trishuli River at Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district, around 100 kilometres from the capital Kathmandu.

The accident took place around 3.30 am, an official said.

While 24 people were onboard the Kathmandu-bound Angel bus, 41 other passengers were travelling on Ganpati Deluxe, which was going to Gaur from the Nepal capital.

“We are not sure of the total number because the buses could have picked up others on the road,” Chitwan district official Khimananda Bhusal told AFP.

“The river has swollen and no one else has been found yet,” he said.

Three passengers on the Ganpati Deluxe bus reportedly escaped after jumping out of the vehicle.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ expressed grief over the accident and issued directives for immediate search and rescue operations.

Landslides and floods have reportedly killed more than 90 people in Nepal since mid-June.