Kalikot bus accident toll rises to 30; victims identified

The death toll in Monday night's bus accident at Sherbada area in Pakha VDC of mid-western Kalikot district has risen to 30 with two more passengers succumbing to injuries Tuesday afternoon.

Eleven injured passengers who were undergoing treatment at Kalikot District Hospital, were airlifted to Nepalgung today for further treatment.

The accident occurred when the passenger bus (Na 4 Kha 6877) of Karnalai Yatayat heading to Jumla from Manma of Kalikot veered off the Karnali Highway and fell 500 meters down into the banks of Tila river at 11 pm.
The site of the accident is some 20 kilometers away from the district headquarters of Kalikot.

The bodies of 28 passengers who were killed on the spot were collected by the rescue team involving army and police personnel. Identity of only 24 deceased has been ascertained so far. Those killed in the accident from Kalikot district were Govinda Koirala, a teacher of Rachuli-8; Jagat Kumar Shahi, another teacher of Manma-5; Dadima Malla of Pankaha-1; Lal Bahadur Bhandari, a teacher of Chhapre-2; Junga Bahadur Shahi of Pankana-8; Lalkaura Thapa of Rawatkot-6, Dailekh and Manoj Karki, a Nepal Army personnel from Dashrath Municipality, Baitadi.

Similarly, those killed from Jumla district were Bhim Dutta Koirala, the bus driver from Mahatgaun-8; Min Bahadur Rokaya of Pandavgufa-4; Narendra Karki of ward no 1; Pasal Shahi, a Nepal Police personnel from Kalikakhetu; Dhanraj Nepali of Kartikaswami-1; Govinda Upadhyay of Chandranath-3, Pradip Thait, Shova Thait, Kalu Mahat, Tek Raut and Kale Raut of ward no 2 and Daljit Shahi of Kalikakhetu-6, Kamalraj Shahi of Kudarika, Birkha Bahadur Budha, Lanka Bahadur Budha and Balbir Budha of Narkot-5 and Basanta Rawat of Chandanath-3.

The identity of the remaining 4 bodies could not be ascertained. Six passengers traveling on the ill-fated bus said they managed to save their lives by jumping off the roof of the bus. The bus was believed to be carrying more than 50 passengers at the time of accident. nepalnews.com