OCT 17 2004 Five killed in road mishaps Five persons including a four-year-old child were killed in separate road mishaps along the Mahendra Highway on Saturday. A dozen others passengers were injured in those accidents. According to reports, a woman and a child were killed and two injured on Saturday morning. The incident occurred as a truck hit them along Mahendra Highway at Budhabare of Jhapa. In Hetauda, two persons - including an Indian national- were killed when an Ilam bound passenger bus collided with a truck coming from opposite direction at Basamadi of Makwanpur district. They were taken to Hetaunda hospital for treatment and declared dead there. According to Police, the deceased Indian national has been identified as Karuna Subba of Darjeeling. In yet another incident, Krishna Dev, a resident of Motipur VDC of Kapilvastu died on the spot as a truck hit him at Bardagaon of Kapilvastu district in western Nepal. Nepal has the highest rate of Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) in entire South Asia. Experts say fatal RTAs increase sharply during September-October when most of the roads are dilapidated due to monsoon and there is increased traffic movement during major festivals like Dashain and Tihar. Lack of repair and maintenance of the public transport vehicles and negligence on part of the drivers are also blamed for growing number of accidents. nepalnews.com pd Oct 17 04