Six people died and 16 others were injured, two critically, when a passenger bus met with an accident near Arunkhola along the East-West Highway in Nawalparasi East on Sunday morning.

The speeding night bus (Lu 1 Kha 8454) overturned at the roadside at around 5am. The 40-seater vehicle was en route to Bhairahawa from Dharan carrying 52 passengers. According to the District Traffic Police Office, the crash occurred as the driver dozed off while driving the bus.

Police identified the deceased as Abdul Ansari, a government officer posted to the public health office in Nawalparasi East, Nepal Army soldier Tilak Bista from Gulmi, Sahun Karki of Morang, Ramjit Rai of Bhojpur and Indian national Bidhyananda Yadav. The identity of another deceased is yet to be ascertained.

Five of them died on the spot while Bista breathed his last at Madya-Bindu Hospital. Most of the victims were returning after celebrating Dashain, a major Hindu festival, with their families or were on their way to their relatives’ place to receive Tika.

The injured are undergoing treatment at Old Medical College in Chitwan, said police.

2 killed in Ramechhap Tata Sumo crash

RAMECHHAP: Two family members died and five others sustained injuries when a Tata Sumo met with an accident at Ramechhap Municipality-2 on Saturday evening. Police identified the deceased as Lalimaya Karki and her son Durga Bahadur Karki of Ramechhap-1. The jeep (Na 1 Ja 4812) swerved off the road and fell some 300 metres at Kharanepakha. The injured were rushed to Tamakoshi Cooperative Hospital for treatment. In Tanahun district, 23 people were injured when a Muglin-bund bus fell off the road at Aabukhaireni-2 along the Prithvi Highway on Sunday. The injured are receiving care at a local hospital, said police. (PR)