Dozens killed after bus plunges off Nepal mountain road
Rescue operation under way after bus heading to Kavre, east of Kathmandu, veers off a road in Kavrepalanchok district.
At least 30 people have been killed after a passenger bus crashed on a mountain road in central Nepal, according to police.
An additional 30 people were injured on Monday when the bus veered off a road in Kavrepalanchok district, plunging some 300 metres downhill, police spokesman Madhav Joshi told DPA news agency.
Fifteen of the injured were being treated at a hospital in the town of Dhulikhel, southeast of the capital, Kathmandu.
“An army helicopter has been sent to airlift the other 15 injured people to Kathmandu,” Joshi said.
Bhim Kanta Sharma, the deputy district chief of Kavre, where the bus was heading, told AFP news agency that a rescue operation was continuing.
“Rescue workers are still recovering bodies but rain is making their work difficult. We cannot ascertain the final toll right now.”
Poorly maintained vehicles, coupled with reckless driving and bad roads, lead to a number of fatal road accidents in Nepal every year.
In late July, nine people died when two passenger buses collided in southeastern Nepal.
