AT LEAST 27 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra for a 10-day tour were killed and 16 others injured after a tourist bus veered off the highway and fell into fast-flowing Marsyangdi river in central Nepal on Friday, police said. The incident occurred at Anbookhaireni area in Chitawan district when the bus from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh carrying 43 passengers, including the driver and two helpers, was heading towards Kathmandu from Pokhara. While 16 people died on the spot, 11 succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment, Deputy Spokesperson of Armed Police Force (APF) Shailendra Thapa told PTI. Sixteen people who sustained injuries have been airlifted to Kathmandu and admitted at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, he said.

 

The passengers onboard the bus were part of a group of 104 Indian pilgrims who arrived in Nepal from Maharashtra in three buses two days ago for a 10-day tour of the Himalayan nation, MyRepublica news portal reported. They came from Bhusal village in Jalgaon district. After visiting Pokhara for two days, all three buses left for the capital Kathmandu on Friday morning. Madhav Prasad Paudel, chief of the Armed Police Force (APF), Kurintar, said that most of the passengers travelling in the three buses were families and relatives. A list of names of the 43 passengers who were in the ill-fated bus has been released. “An Indian tourist bus travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu with around 43 Indians fell 150 metres into Marshyandi River today,” the Embassy of India said in a post on X.The mission is coordinating with local authorities undertaking relief and rescue.

 

PM Modi expresses grief at loss of lives in Nepal road accident: PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday expressed grief at the loss of lives, including of at least 27 Indian pilgrims, in a road accident in Nepal. At least 27 Indian pilgrims, all from Maharashtra, who arrived in Nepal for a 10-day tour were killed and 16 others injured after their bus veered off the highway and fell into a fast-flowing river in central Nepal on Friday. Police said the bus from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh carrying 43 passengers, including the driver and two helpers, was heading towards Kathmandu from Pokhara when it met with the accident at Aanboo Khaireni area along the Marsyangdi River in Tanahun district around noon. Modi said on X, “Saddened by the loss of lives due to a road mishap in Tanahun district, Nepal. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest. The Indian Embassy is providing all possible assistance to those affected.”