Nepal‘s security force divers along with the rescuers have resumed the search for 51 individuals, including seven Indians, who remain missing after the two passenger buses were wiped away by a mudslide into a swollen river. The incident happened in the Trishuli River of Simaltal area on the Narayanghat-Mugling road in the Chitwan district.
The search operations are going on by the Nepal Police, Nepal Army divers, and armed police personnel.
Two busses got swept away by mudslide
As per a statement by Nepal Police, two buses carrying a total of 54 passengers were inundated by a mudslide that was caused because of heavy rainfall. One bus was carrying a total of 24 people, including 7 Indians, and was traveling from Birgunj to Kathmandu. Another one was coming from Kathmandu to Gaur and was occupied with 30 local passengers.
Commenting on the incident, Dan Bahadur Karki, spokesperson of Nepal Police stated, ”We will conduct the search operations on all locations which are possible and will put forward our best efforts in locating them”. Around 500 security personnel were involved in the search operations which got halted because of the adverse weather conditions on Friday but resumed from Saturday morning. According to the latest report, 51 people are still not found and three passengers managed to save their lives by swimming to a safer place.
Reason for monsoon-related disasters in Nepal
Over the past 15 years, Nepal has continued to be highly vulnerable to climate change and has witnessed several weather incidents till now. Experts have noticed that there has been a rapid rise in extreme weather conditions in Nepal like prolonged monsoon rains, heavy downpours, dry spells, and warmer winter temperatures.
(With PTI inputs)