At least five people died and several others were injured in separate road accidents in Tanahun, Palpa and Darchula districts during the past 24 hours.

Two people died and 16 others were injured, some seriously, when a jeep met with an accident at ward 1 of Giraunchaur of Aanbukhaireni Rural Municipality in Tanahun district on Monday. The vehicle with the registration number Ba 18 Cha 5921 was carrying wedding attendants when the fatal crash occurred along the Baradi-Hilekharka rural road.

According to the District Police Office in Tanahun, 72-year-old Aasbir Gurung of ward 6 of Aanbukhaireni and 17-year-old Tulasi Gurung of ward 9 of Byas Municipality died in the accident. Asbir was killed on the spot while the teenager died in the course of treatment in Chitwan, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohan Bahadur Khand.

The overcrowded jeep had swerved off the road and plunged nearly 500 metres below. The cause of the accident is not immediately known, said police. The injured are receiving treatment at Anbukhaireni Hospital.

In another accident, a tipper truck crashed at ward 5 of Mathagadhi Rural Municipality in Palpa district on Monday, killing two people.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Sugandha Shrestha, driver Pradeep Kumal, aged 24, and his assistant Manish Pariyar, aged 18, of ward 16 of Tilottama Municipality of Rupandehi district died when the tipper truck heading to a limestone mine at Dhamiga of Palpa from Devdaha Khaireni of Rupandehi met with an accident.

Accidents involving tipper trucks are occurring unchecked in the Giddebhir area of Hattilung mainly due to overloading, poor roads, and reckless driving. The local people demanded authorities concerned to take immediate initiatives to control road accidents in the area. They claimed some people drive vehicles without having a driving license, but the police personnel failed to take action against them.

Similarly, a 32-year-old man died in a tractor accident in ward 2 of Naugad Rural Municipality in Darchula district on Sunday evening. The tractor carrying cement for Gwallek Construction Company fell around 150 metres from the road after its brakes failed, said police. According to the District Police Office, 32-year-old Ram Sagar Rawat of Dhanusha who worked as an overseer at the construction company, died in the incident. A critically injured Rawat succumbed to his injuries in Darchula Hospital.

Tractor driver Bijendra Singh Nayak, 28, of Baitadi, fled the scene after the accident. A search is on to nab the driver, said police.

Road accidents are common in the country that kill hundreds of people every year. At least 37 people died in major road accidents in Kapilvastu, Palpa, Dang, Tanahun and Darchula districts over the past 37 days.

Experts say multiple factors are responsible for recurring fatal road crashes in the country.

Transport and traffic engineer Ashish Gajurel recently told the Post that poor road infrastructure, ill-maintained vehicles and reckless driving are the major causes of such accidents. Other problems identified by police in their investigations are drink driving and driving without a licence, which are common mainly in rural parts of the country where monitoring is lax.