At least seven people died in a bus accident in Bara district in the wee hours on. Twenty others were injured, three critically, in the accident that occurred at around 2 am.

According to the police, the bus was en route to Janakpur from Kathmandu and was carrying Indian pilgrims when the accident occurred near Churiamai Temple in Makawanpur. The pilgrims were returning after paying homage at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu.

District Police Office, Bara informed that the bus overturned and fell some 50 metres from the road into the bank of a river south of the Churiamai Temple at Jitpur Simara Sub-Metropolitan City-22 along the East-West Highway at around 2 am.

According to Deputy Superintendent Pradeep Bahadur Chhetri of the Area Police Office, Simara, one Nepali, a resident of Loharpatti in Mahottari district and six Indian nationals–four females and two males–from India’s Rajasthan state were among the deceased. They died on the spot, said police.

Superintendent of Police Hobindra Bogati, the chief of the Bara District Police Office, informed that 27 people, including two drivers and their help, were on board the vehicle.

The police have detained three people including the bus driver Jilami Khan of ward 7 of the Janakpur Sub-Metropolitan City in Dhanusa district and his two assistants.

The driver and his coworkers had also sustained minor injuries in the accident and they were detained from Janakpur following treatment,” said Bogati. “Further investigation into the accident is underway.”

DSP Chhetri informed that the injured passengers are undergoing treatment in Hetauda area hospitals.

Chhetri informed that a preliminary investigation has revealed that the accident occurred as the driver of the bus, which was travelling at a high speed, might have fallen asleep behind the wheel.