Nepal confirms 65 people on board buses missing in river, as 14 bodies recovered
The two buses were on the key highway connecting Kathmandu to southern parts of Nepal when they were swept away in the Trishuli river.
There were 65 people on board the two buses that were swept into a swollen river in Nepal, but rescuers have so far only recovered 14 bodies, authorities said on Tuesday.
Eight of the bodies have been identified and are being handed over to relatives. Six of them were Indian nationals.
The two buses were on the key highway connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when a landslide pushed them into the Trishuli river near Simaltal, about 75 miles (120km) west of Kathmandu on Friday morning.
The bodies were washed as far as 60 miles (100km) down the river.
Three people survived after being ejected from one of the vehicles.
Hundreds of rescuers from the police and army searched the river and downstream areas on Tuesday but have yet to find any trace of the two missing buses.
Nepal’s rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned them murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.
Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.
