Family members of the missing people in the Simaltar bus accident demand effective search operations

BHARATPUR, July 13: The families of those missing in the accident in which two buses plunged into Trishuli river in Chitwan have demanded a more effective search, urging the authorities concerned to mobilise all available resources and use necessary technology and tools to search for their loved ones.

Two passenger buses, including one from Kathmandu to Gaur (03-001 Kha. 2495) and another from Birgunj to Kathmandu (03-006 Kha. 1516), were swept into the Trishuli river near Simaltal in landslides on Friday morning and fell under Bharatpur Metropolis-29.

Bikesh Kumar Patel, a resident of Gaur in Rautahat, who came to Chitwan on Friday after learning that his grandfather was one of the passengers in the ill-fated bus, said both the families of the victims and the entire village were in mourning following the accident.

Ramesh Kumar Patel from Rautahat also came to Chitwan on Friday to look for his cousin on the bus. He said he had called an ambulance but hopes of finding him alive were fading. Patel said, “If only we could find his body, we would return home. There is no other hope.”

Meanwhile, Binod Prasad Jaiswal, chairman of Parasouni Rural Municipality in Bara, complained about the delay in the search for the missing people. When he found his two neighbours in the bus at the accident site, Jaiwal complained that the state, which uses all mechanisms in helicopter and aircraft accidents, has not paid enough attention to bus accidents.

He stated that more than fifty families are suffering from the disaster and called on the relevant authorities to mobilize all state mechanisms to find these families soon.

Chitwan district chief Indradev Yadav said all trained teams of Nepal Army, Armed Police and Nepal Police were deployed throughout the day on Friday. “However, the current and water flow in the river did not subside. Hence, we were forced to postpone the search on Friday evening, which was resumed this morning,” he said.

The bus from Kathmandu to Gaur had 27 passengers on board, while the bus from Birgunj to Kathmandu had 24 people on board. Three of them miraculously survived by swimming out of the floodwaters of the river.