Bharatpur [Nepal], March 15 : At least seven Indian pilgrims were killed in a road accident in Central Nepal, while five other Indian pilgrims are admitted at the hospital receiving treatment, officials confirmed. In the accident, two other Nepali citizens were also seriously injured.
The accident occurred when a microbus carrying passengers returning from a pilgrimage to Manakamana Temple crashed near Sahid Lakhan Rural Municipality-3 of Gorkha.
According to Superintendent of Police Bharat Bahadur BK of the District Police Office, Gorkha, seven of the 14 people travelling in the microbus died on the spot.
The deceased include five men and two women, all Indian nationals, police said. Seven other passengers were seriously injured and are currently receiving treatment at the College of Medical Sciences in Bharatpur, Chitwan.
"Indian pilgrims who were on their way back from the Manakamana Temple had met with an accident. A total of 9 injured were brought here to the College of Medical Sciences emergency late in the evening, and we immediately started their treatment. Out of those nine brought to the hospital, five were in serious condition out of which three have been admitted to the neurosurgery ICU, while two are in the surgery ICU, who aren't in critical condition," Sudip Raj KC, Deputy Director at the College of Medical Sciences, Bharatpur, told ANI.
Police said the vehicle went out of control and plunged about 200 meters down a roadside slope. Except for the driver and co-driver, all the passengers in the vehicle were Indian citizens.
"Yesterday (Saturday), we had gone in reserve along with the pilgrims from Kurintar (Chitwan) to the Manakamana temple, via the Gorkha district. The vehicle was reserved for one hour but we stayed around for about four-five hours. All of them performed the rituals and on our way back the brakes of the vehicle failed and met with the accident. The road condition around the spot also wasn't that good, the locals had made a temporary arrangement to drain the water on the road. The driver also had complained that the brakes were not working properly as we travelled towards the highway, at first I thought he was joking but later it turned out to be true. I was in the front alongside the driver," Santosh Gurung, staff of the vehicle, toldas he received treatment.
Following the accident, a rescue team from the Armed Police Force Nepal No. 29 Battalion in Gorkha and personnel from the District Police Office, Gorkha, were deployed at the site. The bodies have been sent to a hospital for post-mortem examination, and police said further investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The police have identified the victims of the accident as Muthu Kumar (58), Anamalik (58), Meenakshi (59), Sivagami (53), Vijayal (57), Meena (58) and Tamilarsi (60), all from India. Seven injured passengers are undergoing treatment at Chitwan Medical College. They have been identified as Soranam (62), Mangada Jalam (65), Subhadra (75), Mayal (65), Saroja (73), Bhagyalakshmi (75) and Meenakshi (34).
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