4 Indians injured in Nepal bus mishap

KATHMANDU: At least a dozen passengers were killed and seven others, including an Indian national, were seriously injured when a bus plunged into a river in Dhading district in southwestern Nepal.

The bus was heading towards Kathmandu from Kakarvitta bordering Siliguri in West Bengal, with at least 45 passengers when it collided with a jeep and fell 150 metres down into the Trishuli river at Fajimtar area, some 65 kms from Kathmandu, a police official said.

The injured Indian has been identified as Bhagirath Sharma, a native of Himachal Pradesh, who along with six others were rescued from the site and were admitted to Bir Hospital in Kathmandu where their condition is said to be serious.

One of those killed was the bus driver but other dead bodies are yet to be identified. The bus was still lying submerged in the river and police and army teams have been sent for rescue operations early this morning, police said.

At least four more Indian passengers were in the bus that was heading for Kathmandu. While two of them were from Darjeeling, the others two - Lokman Khan and Nizam Khan - were from Mumbai.

The condition of four Indians, including two from Mumbai and two from Darjeeling, who had boarded the ill-fated bus is still unknown, The Kathmadu Post reported.