Nepal Police and Armed Force along with other security forces launch a search and rescue operations along Trishuli River in Nepal .
| Photo Credit: ANI

Nepal has formally requested India’s assistance in locating the two buses and over five dozen passengers swept away in the landslide in central Nepal earlier on Friday, July 12 morning.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to India on Monday, July 15, sking for India’s assistance to search for the missing buses and passengers.

“We have written to the Indian government asking for technical assistance, including the divers, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal,” Bhismakumar Bhusal, Joint Secretary at the Disaster and Conflict Management Division under the Home Ministry, confirmed to ANI over the phone.

“All the available resources don’t seem to be enough; that’s why we have asked India for assistance. It’s first time that we’ve asked them for this kind of assistance,” Mr. Bhusal added

.Nepal had asked for Bangladesh’s assistance for a search operation of a similar kind in previous years.

In the letter sent to India, Nepal has sought supporting technologies that would help to trace and retract the dead bodies or possible remains from the Trishuli River, where the two passenger buses were swept into by the landslide.

As per the record till Tuesday morning, a total of 13 bodies of passengers were recovered after the two buses were swept away by a landslide in Bharatpur metropolis-29, Simaltal, Chitwan, on Friday morning.

According to the police, nine bodies were recovered from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), three from Chitwan, and one from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta West). Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Poudel, Information Officer at the District Police Office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), confirmed that four bodies were found in the district on Monday alone.

Of the nine bodies recovered in Nawalpur, the identities of five have been confirmed as passengers from the swept-away buses.The remaining four bodies are yet to be identified but are believed to be among the missing passengers. Two of the bodies were recovered near the Gandak Barrage Bridge, and the other two were found along the Narayani river bank at Madhyabindu-2.

The identified bodies from three districts include 19-year-old Ramit Kasur Majhi of Barahathawa municipality-3 (Sarlahi), Bikas Pariyar, 22, of Madi-1 (Chitwan), Sajad Ansari (30) of Bihar’s Betiya, Rahum Miya (17) of Jamunamai rural municipality-4 (Rautahat), Rishipal Sah, 28, of Sitamadi Barganiya, India, Jay Prakash Thakur (30) of Sitamadi Betiya (India), and Paramananda Pandit (43) of Bara. These bodies have been sent to Bharatpur Hospital.

Nepal Police and Armed Force along with other security forces launch a search and rescue operations along Trishuli River in Nepal .
| Photo Credit: ANI

Nepal has formally requested India’s assistance in locating the two buses and over five dozen passengers swept away in the landslide in central Nepal earlier on Friday, July 12 morning.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs wrote to India on Monday, July 15, sking for India’s assistance to search for the missing buses and passengers.

“We have written to the Indian government asking for technical assistance, including the divers, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal,” Bhismakumar Bhusal, Joint Secretary at the Disaster and Conflict Management Division under the Home Ministry, confirmed to ANI over the phone.

“All the available resources don’t seem to be enough; that’s why we have asked India for assistance. It’s first time that we’ve asked them for this kind of assistance,” Mr. Bhusal added

.Nepal had asked for Bangladesh’s assistance for a search operation of a similar kind in previous years.

In the letter sent to India, Nepal has sought supporting technologies that would help to trace and retract the dead bodies or possible remains from the Trishuli River, where the two passenger buses were swept into by the landslide.

As per the record till Tuesday morning, a total of 13 bodies of passengers were recovered after the two buses were swept away by a landslide in Bharatpur metropolis-29, Simaltal, Chitwan, on Friday morning.

According to the police, nine bodies were recovered from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta East), three from Chitwan, and one from Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta West). Deputy Superintendent of Police Bed Bahadur Poudel, Information Officer at the District Police Office in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta East), confirmed that four bodies were found in the district on Monday alone.

Of the nine bodies recovered in Nawalpur, the identities of five have been confirmed as passengers from the swept-away buses.The remaining four bodies are yet to be identified but are believed to be among the missing passengers. Two of the bodies were recovered near the Gandak Barrage Bridge, and the other two were found along the Narayani river bank at Madhyabindu-2.

The identified bodies from three districts include 19-year-old Ramit Kasur Majhi of Barahathawa municipality-3 (Sarlahi), Bikas Pariyar, 22, of Madi-1 (Chitwan), Sajad Ansari (30) of Bihar’s Betiya, Rahum Miya (17) of Jamunamai rural municipality-4 (Rautahat), Rishipal Sah, 28, of Sitamadi Barganiya, India, Jay Prakash Thakur (30) of Sitamadi Betiya (India), and Paramananda Pandit (43) of Bara. These bodies have been sent to Bharatpur Hospital.

Nepali Army troops and others during a rescue operation after buses were swept away by a landslide, in Chitwan district, Nepal.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Nepali authorities say rescuers have recovered on July 13 the first body from two buses that were swept by a landslide and submerged into a raging river in a raging river a day earlier.

The buses, carrying more than 50 people, fell into the Trishuli river which was swollen by continuous rainfall over the past few days as heavy monsoon downpours turned their waters murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.

The body was that of a man and was found some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from where the buses fell, said government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal.

Weather conditions improved Saturday and rescuers were able to cover more ground in the hunt for the missing buses and passengers. Heavy equipment had cleared much of the landslides from the highway, making it easier for more searchers to reach the area.

Soldiers and police teams were using rubber rafts, divers and sensor equipments to try to locate the buses, which were pushed off the highway into the river by a landslide.

Three people were ejected from the buses and were being treated in a nearby hospital.

The buses were likely submerged and swept downstream in the Trishuli. Nepal’s rivers generally are fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned their waters murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.

The buses were on the key highway connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when they were swept away Friday morning near Simaltal, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kathmandu.

A third bus was hit by another landslide Friday morning a short distance away on the same highway. Authorities said the driver was killed but it was not clear if there were any other casualties.

Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.

The government has imposed a ban on passenger buses travelling at night in the areas where weather warnings are posted, according to the Home Ministry.