As many as 65 people are missing after mudslides swept away two passenger buses on a highway in Nepal on Friday morning, police said.
The Angle Deluxe and Ganapati Deluxe buses, traveling from Birgunj to Kathmandu and Kathmandu to Gaur respectively, were struck by landslides in Simaltaal, Chitwan district, near the Narayanghat around 3 am on Friday.
It remains unclear whether the buses are buried in the mudslides or fell into the Trishuli River below.
Nearly 200 security forces, including professional divers, have been deployed for search and rescue efforts since early morning.
Nepal Police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki said that at least three people survived by jumping out of the bus before it was swept away.
“There were around 65 people in the two buses. Apart from the three survivors, others are missing,” said Karki. “Our teams have been searching the area since morning, but we have yet to locate them.”
Narayanghat-Mugling section road is highly prone to landslides. Earlier, a driver of a passenger bus in the same road section died when a falling rock hit the running bus.
Road accidents are common in Nepal, especially during the monsoon season when vehicles often slip on the winding roads built along rivers facing steep hills.
According to a compiled data from traffic police, at least 16,000 people have died in road accidents in the last ten years.
Parts of Nepal have been experiencing continuous rainfall since last week, leading to widespread devastation. At least 24 people have died in landslides and 15 others swept away by flood this week alone.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, at least 110 people have died in landslides, floods and lightning strikes since mid-June when monsoon rains started.
On Thursday, at least eleven people, including 11 from a single family, died after their homes were buried in landslides in Pokhara.
