Ten people were killed and five injured when an electric microbus carrying passengers from Kathmandu to Sarlahi veered off the road and plunged down a steep slope at Chisapani Gadhi in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-6 on Thursday morning, police said.
The crash happened at about 5:45 to 6:10 am on the Bhimphedi-Kulekhani-Kathmandu road section. The vehicle, an electric Hiace with registration Madhesh Province 03-001 Ja 0880, fell between 500 and 700 meters, according to police reports.
About 15 people were on board. The dead are five men, three women and two girls. The five injured are three men and two boys, and all were taken to Hetauda Hospital. All ten deaths occurred at the scene.
Only two of the dead have been publicly identified. They are the driver, Ravi Shankar Kumar Mandal, about 30, of Kabilasi Municipality-8, Sarlahi, and passenger Subek Yadav, also reported as Suvek Yadav, of Sundarpur Tole, Chakraghatta-4. Yadav said officials were working to identify the other eight.
The injured are named as Mukesh Yadav, Devendra Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Sujan Yadav and Saksham Yadav, all from the Sarlahi area. Citing Armed Police Force Deputy Spokesperson Shailendra Thapa, Mukesh Yadav, 33, has head and back injuries and is stable. Saksham Kumar Yadav, 5, has internal injuries and is stable. A three-year-old boy, whose name is spelled has head and facial injuries and is in moderate condition.
Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the Nepali Army took part, along with a Bagmati Province disaster management battalion. 10 APF personnel, 11 Army personnel, 10 district police personnel and 10 from the battalion, in addition to the first police team. Superintendent of Police Shyam Bahadur Khatri, chief of Makwanpur District Police, led the district response. The steep slope made it hard to reach the wreckage, and some survivors had to be brought up the hillside.
Nepal Police said road accidents during the Dashain period, Oct 11 to 25, killed 124 people and injured 2,988. The force said it was checking licences, alcohol and drug use, passenger capacity, vehicle condition and the use of two drivers on long journeys.
