Nepal: The bodies of driver, Murtaza, and conductor, Ramjeet—natives of Kushinagar—were among the first batch of corpses being sent to India from Nepal on Saturday after at least 27 Indian pilgrims died as the bus they were travelling in plunged into Maharajganj river, some 110 kilometres from Kathmandu on Friday. The bodies will be transported by road via Sonauli border crossing of Bhairahawa, a Nepal official said.
Earlier in the day, the bodies were taken for autopsy at a hospital in Bharatpur, Nepal. Besides, the injured passengers— who were rescued from the swollen waters of the river in the Tanahun district— are being brought to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh under the supervision of police escort and ADM.
“Arrangements for food and water have been made for all the passengers at the border. On arrival of 51 passengers at Maharajganj (in Uttar Pradesh), they will be given food and water and then sent to Gorakhpur. Maharajganj administration has arranged 6 hearse vans, 11 ambulances and one 42-seater at the border,” Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner, GS Naveen Kumar, told ANI.
The deceased are mostly from Maharashtra. Thus, bodies of 25 passengers from Maharashtra will be airlifted from Nepal to Maharashtra after postmortem.
#WATCH | Nepal | An Indian passenger bus with 40 people onboard has plunged into the Marsyangdi river in Tanahun district, confirms Nepal Police.
“The bus bearing number plate UP FT 7623 plunged into the river and is lying on the bank of the river,” DSP Deepkumar Raya from the… pic.twitter.com/P8XwIA27qJ
— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2024
Earlier, the deputy CM of Maharashtra had said that the state government immediately contacted the Nepal Embassy, and the Collector of Jalgaon was in constant contact with the Collector of Maharajganj. An Indian Air Force plane would transport the bodies to Nashik on Saturday, a Maharashtra state government release stated earlier.
#WATCH | Nepal bus accident: Union Minister Raksha Khadse and Nepal Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak visit Tribhuvan University Education Hospital in Kathmandu to meet the injured
At least 27 Indians, all from Maharashtra, who were visiting Nepal, were killed and 16 others injured… pic.twitter.com/NRsbFUtMU8
— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2024
Union Minister Raksha Khadse and Nepal Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak visited Tribhuvan University Education Hospital in Kathmandu to meet the injured.
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