Nirmala Devi Yadav, 49, had been preparing for Chhath since early Wednesday. She had readied everything including offerings for the festival, which falls on Sunday. All that remained was to welcome her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren home from Kathmandu. That reunion will never happen.

A microbus travelling from Kathmandu plunged about 700 metres down a slope from the main road at Chisapanigadhi in ward 6 of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality of Makawanpur district at around 5:45 am on Thursday. The vehicle (Madhesh Province 03-001 Ja 0880) was carrying 20 people, including the driver, despite having only 14 seats.

The crash that occurred about eight kilometres north of the Area Police Office in Bhimphedi, killed 14 people: 13 passengers and the driver, Ravi Shankar Kumar Mandal. Among the dead are Nirmala’s pregnant daughter-in-law Poonam and five other members of her family. The tragedy struck just as the village was getting ready for Chhath, turning what should have been a festive occasion into one of mourning.

At first, Nirmala could not believe the news. She asked a relative, Upendra Ray, who was nearby, to confirm what had happened. When he did, she collapsed, unable to bear the shock.

The grief is not confined to Nirmala’s household. Thirteen people from Sundarpur, including six members of her family, died in the crash. The entire village has plunged into mourning.

Most of the victims from Sundarpur were involved in the vegetable and fruit trade in Kathmandu. Local resident Saroj Yadav said the tragedy had left the whole village devastated. The Chhath ghats, which residents had decorated for the festival, now stand deserted.

“An investigation must establish exactly how the accident happened,” he said.

The crash has also raised questions about how 20 people came to be travelling in a vehicle designed for 14, and why police and local authorities failed to detect the overloading during the nearly 61-kilometre journey from Kathmandu to Bhimphedi.

A record maintained by police at the Pharping post after the crash adds to the questions. The driver had reportedly recorded only 11 passengers in the vehicle. Makawanpur District Police Office Superintendent Shyam Khatri said the initial confusion over the number of young children on board had made it difficult to establish the exact passenger count.

“Drivers must record the correct number of passengers. The uncertainty over the number also caused confusion during the rescue operation,” he said.

The toll on Nirmala’s son, Awadhesh, has been devastating. He had put his wife, children, and brothers in the microbus that morning and was preparing to follow them home on his motorcycle. Before he could set off, he learnt that his 35-year-old pregnant wife Poonam, brothers Bikesh and Rupesh, and three daughters, Diksha, seven, Dipika, five, and Anu, 10, had died. His 16-month-old son Sudip was injured and is receiving treatment at Hetauda Hospital.

“Everything is over,” said Upendra, Awadhesh’s maternal uncle. “How can anyone bear such a devastating loss?”

Nirmala had suffered a similar bereavement a decade ago, when her husband, Ram Sunar, died in Chandigarh, India. She had been trying to come to terms with that loss when tragedy struck her family again.

Awadhesh and his brothers had been running a vegetable business in Kathmandu’s Jadibuti area for a decade. The family had planned to celebrate Chhath together in their village. Instead, the journey home ended in disaster.

Police took seven injured passengers to Hetauda Hospital after the crash. Two have since been discharged, while two remain under treatment there. Three others were referred to Bharatpur Hospital in Chitwan for further treatment.

About 100 metres from Nirmala’s house is the home of 62-year-old Nirsu Yadav, where the atmosphere is just as sombre. Since hearing about the crash, Nirsu had been sitting by the roadside outside his house, unable even to speak. Relatives and neighbours tried to console him after he learnt that his 40-year-old son, Rakesh Rai Yadav, and 14-year-old grandson, Rohan, had died while returning from Kathmandu for Chhath.

His daughter-in-law Gayatri, who had arrived in the village two days earlier to prepare for the festival, collapsed after learning that her husband and son were dead.

“I have lost everything,” Nirsu said. His voice faltered as he struggled to speak.

Instead of completing preparations to decorate the riverbanks, arrange offerings, and welcome relatives, residents of Sundarpur are now trying to console one another.

Krishna Kumar Yadav, chair of Chakraghatta Rural Municipality, said the crash had left the entire local government area in shock.

“Such a devastating accident just before a major festival has left us speechless. We don’t know how to console the bereaved families,” he said.

Questions over overloading and driver fatigue

Police have yet to determine what caused the crash. Their preliminary assessment points to possible overloading and driver fatigue after a long night on the road.

According to police, the vehicle had travelled from Sarlahi to Kathmandu with passengers on Wednesday night and was heading towards Hetauda with passengers again from around 2am on Thursday. Investigators suspect the driver may have been exhausted after driving for much of the night and may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

The accident occurred at around 5:45 am, police said.

“Trying to make two or three trips a day to earn more may also have contributed to the accident. The driver may have been sleep-deprived. We are still investigating,” Superintendent of Police Khatri said.

Sanjay Yadav, a passenger who survived the crash, also suspected that the driver had fallen asleep. Most passengers were asleep at the time, he said. He, too, had been dozing.

“The vehicle had stopped at Chisapanigadhi. As the driver tried to move forward, it suddenly lurched and plunged down the slope. I fell along with the vehicle but was thrown clear midway down and survived,” he said.

Ramesh Bista, chief of the District Traffic Police Office in Hetauda, said the road at the crash site was wide and did not appear to have contributed to the accident. He said the vehicle had crashed about 800 metres before reaching Chisapanigadhi from the Kathmandu direction.

“The driver may have fallen asleep, or the vehicle may have suddenly surged forward when it was being started,” he said. He added that the road section did not have any obvious features that made it particularly accident-prone.

Sanjiv Shrestha, a local hotelier, said he could not recall a crash of this scale between Chisapanigadhi and Deurali.

“There have been many vehicle accidents on the road from Chisapanigadhi towards Jurikhet, but I don’t remember one of this scale on this particular stretch,” he said.

Superintendent of Police Naresh Raj Subedi of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office said the cause of the crash had yet to be established. But he stressed that vehicles must not carry more passengers than their seating capacity and that journeys exceeding 250 kilometres require a change of driver.

“A single driver should not drive for more than 250 kilometres. Fatigue and sleep deprivation can also cause accidents,” he said. “We conduct checks to ensure vehicles do not carry more passengers than their seating capacity. Overloading can itself lead to accidents.”

Inquiry committee formed

The Makawanpur District Administration Office has formed a committee to investigate the crash and recommend measures to prevent similar accidents.

Chief District Officer Basanta Adhikari said the committee would examine the cause of the accident, the condition of the road and potential safety risks. It is led by the assistant chief district officer and includes a police inspector from the District Police Office, a legal officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Law, and a representative of the Bagmati Province Infrastructure Development Office.

The committee has been given seven days to submit its findings. Authorities will use the report to identify and implement measures to reduce the risk of similar crashes, Adhikari said.

Chakraghatta Rural Municipality chair Krishna Kumar Yadav called for a thorough investigation and government support for the bereaved families.

“How did such a major accident happen, and where did the authorities fail? These questions must be investigated. The state must also support the families of those who died,” he said.

The victims were driver Ravishankar Kumar Mandal, 30, and passengers Bikesh Yadav, 26; Poonam Yadav, 35; Diksha Yadav, seven; Dipika Yadav, five; Anu Kumari Yadav, 10; Guhu Yadav, 36; Gayatri Yadav, 32; Ramdular Yadav, whose age was not known; Subodh Yadav, 24; Rohan Yadav, 15; Rakesh Yadav, Chhotu Yadav and Sudesh Yadav, whose ages were not available.