Posted by: bikash kc December 11, 2008
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| Fiesta takes Fatal turn, 25 bite dust |
| Sri Ram Sigdel/Chintamani Poudel |
| At least 60 injured as ‘overspeeding’ causes tragedy off East-West Highway Nawalparasi/Chitwan, December 11: A school picnic turned into a nightmare when 25 Hill Bird Secondary Boarding School students and a teacher died this evening in a ghastly bus tragedy after the vehicle skidded off the highway. Around 60 more people were injured at the time of reporting. Twenty died on the spot and another five died undergoing treatment, police said. The tragedy occurred when the picnic party was on its way back. The accident occurred at Kharkhare — along East-West Highway — near Gaindakot in Nawalparasi district. The ill-fated vehicle, coming from Lumbini, skidded off the road and plunged 50 feet below. “The bus left for the picnic spot early this morning. Most of the students were in their mid-teens. Bodies of 20 students were recovered from the spot. Some others are believed to be still trapped inside. Locals and police reached the accident site soon after the mishap occurred at around 9 pm. The rescued were rushed to hospital,†said inspector Lem Pratap Sen of the Gaindakot area police office. “Thirty students were admitted to Bharatpur Medical College. Six are in Chitwan Medical College. Another 13 are undergoing treatment in Chitwan District Hospital, Bharatpur. According to the doctors, the condition of 10 of them is critical. The casualty figures are likely to go up,†added inspector Sen. Preliminary investigation suggests that overspeeding was the most likely cause of the accident. Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the hospitals as the bereaved kin of the victims came to collect the bodies of their loved ones. Most likely, Bharatpur residents will remain sleepless tonight as most of the victims hailed from this area. The school is located at Bharatpur-12 in Chitwan. Chitwan chief of police Gyan Bikram Shahi told the media, “So far, 12 bodies have been identified. The deceased have been identified as Sabina Subedi, Nimita Devkota, Prabeg Subedi, Durga Poudel, Yalina, Rimi Subedi, Dibya Phuyal, Akriti Pathak, Soni Shah Gaire, Uchit Shedhain and Barsha Devkota — all students — and Apsara Baral, a teacher of the school.†|