A bus carrying Indian pilgrims in Nepal’s Gandaki province on Saturday met with an accident and plunged down a slope. Seven people, all of them Indian natioanls, were killed and several others were injured in the accident after the bus veered off the road, police said.
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A microbus carrying pilgrims was returning from Manakamana Temple when it plunged off the road in Gorkha District, PTI reported, quoting police. The deceased included two women and five men, Suraj Aryal, chief of the District Traffic Police Office, Gorkha district, said.
The deceased have been identified as Muthu Kumar (58), Anamalik (58), Meenakshi (59), Sivagami (53), Vijayal (57), Meena (58) and Tamilarsi (60).
Seven other injured passengers have been rescued and are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Anbukhaireni, according to the Kathmandu Post.
The driver of the electric bus escaped unhurt, while his assistant was injured in the incident, according to the Himalayan Times.
How did the accident take place?
The accident took place on a road between the highway and the temple near Shahid Lakhan village, located about 120 kilometers west of the capital, Kathmandu.
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The pilgrims were on their way back from the revered Manakamana Temple, a popular Hindu temple where devotees believe a goddess will grant them their wish if they visit the shrine, the Associated Press reported.
The bus was going downhill when it slipped off a curve and rolled down the mountainside about 150 meters (500 feet) before landing in a ravine.
Just last month, at least 19 passengers of a bus were killed and dozens were injured after the vehicle drove off a mountain highway in Nepal on February 23. The bus was headed from the resort city of Pokhara to Kathmandu when it drove off the Prithvi highway after midnight.
The bus reportedly rolled down a mountain slope and landed on the banks of Trishuli river near Benighat, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Kathmandu.
