Two people, including a student, died and 28 others were injured when a school bus met with an accident in ward 21 of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Kaski, on Monday.

The deceased are a 35-year-old female employee of LP Devkota Memorial School in ward 17 of the metropolis and her six-year-old son, an upper kindergarten student. The woman died on the spot, while the boy succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at the Gandaki Medical College.

The bus, which was returning to school after collecting students from Ramdi, skidded off a hairpin bend and fell about 50 meters.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Basanta Kumar Sharma, spokesperson for Kaski Police, 13 of the injured are receiving treatment at the Gandaki Medical College, 12 at Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences and three at Manipal Teaching Hospital.

Students injured in the incident said the crash occurred because the bus was at high speed. The students told Pokhara Metropolitan Mayor Dhanaraj Acharya that the vehicle was speeding. Acharya visited different hospitals to enquire about the condition of the injured.

“The bus was going much faster than usual,” said a girl student. “It skidded off the road and went over the edge at a bend.”

Saman Gurung, a member of the Fushrekhola-Ramdi-Mattikhan road construction users’ committee, said they had previously warned the driver.

“It’s a newly constructed road,” he said. “We had repeatedly asked drivers to slow down. If it had been a dirt road, the speed would have been lower, and the bus might not have crashed. Drivers have begun speeding recklessly since the road was paved.”

According to an eyewitness, Krishna Devkota, chair of the Ramdi-Ekhatte Locality Development Committee, the bus collided with a utility pole and a tree before veering off the road.

Due to leftover gravel, two-wheelers often skid on the recently paved road. Three days ago, the committee requested the road division office complete the work and clear the gravel.

Meanwhile, Pokhara Metropolis formed a seven-member probe committee to investigate the school bus accident. “The probe team led by education unit chief Hem Prasad Acharya will study the incident and submit a report within seven days,” said Mayor Dhanraj Acharya.