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Rescuers recover 11 bodies, four yet to be identified
The bodies of two people, aged 22 and 17, were retrieved from the Gandak barrage at Triveni.![Rescuers recover 11 bodies, four yet to be identified](https://assets-api.kathmandupost.com/thumb.php?src=https://assets-cdn.kathmandupost.com/uploads/source/news/2024/news/31720876289-1721026486.jpg&w=900&height=601)
Ramesh Kumar Paudel & Narayan Sharma
Rescuers have recovered the bodies of 11 people during the search for the passengers missing since Friday’s accident. However, the identities of four of them are yet to be ascertained.
Authorities had found two bodies, stuck at the Gandak barrage in Triveni Dham late on Sunday. Two of the sluice gates were closed to retrieve the bodies on Monday, said Mahesh Rayamajhi, head of the Triveni police office.
According to the Chitwan district police office, the victims have been identified as a 22-year-old man from ward 22 of the Bharatpur Metropolitan City and a 17-year-old boy from Jamunamai of Rautahat district.
They were travelling on the Kathmandu-bound Angel Deluxe bus and Ganapati Deluxe bus, en route to Gaur from the Capital, respectively.
Sixty-two people went missing after two passenger buses were swept away by a mudslide into the rain-swollen Trishuli River near Simaltal along the Narayanghat-Mugling road section at around 3:30am on Friday.
According to Chitwan Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav, 27 passengers’ names were recorded at the ticket counter of the bus travelling to Gaur from Kathmandu. Yadav said it had been confirmed that 11 more people were travelling on the bus, according to their relatives.
A total of 23 passengers were on the bus en route to Kathmandu from Birgunj, as per the record maintained at the ticket counter. Four more people were on board the bus as per their relatives, said Yadav.
Three of the passengers on the Ganapati Deluxe bus had managed to escape after jumping out of the vehicle.