Families of victims killed in Tuesday’s bus crash at ward 6 of Manthali Municipality have obstructed buses operated by Nepal Araniko Yatayat Sewa Pvt Ltd.

The bus, heading from Kathmandu to Tilpung of Likhu Tamakoshi Rural Municipality, was stopped at Arubote. The driver and co-driver were assaulted, said Subas Phuyal, the company’s Ramechhap district in-charge.

He said both are currently out of contact and reportedly fled. Two buses remain stranded at Krishna Mode in Tilpung, ward 7 of Likhu Tamakoshi Rural Municipality.

More than three Araniko buses arriving from Kathmandu with passengers for different parts of Ramechhap were halted at the crash site. A bus departing Khiji for Kathmandu was also obstructed.

Although an agreement was reached after midnight on Wednesday between victims’ families and the local administration to resume traffic, hand over the bodies and provide compensation as per the law, fresh obstructions followed.

Relatives searching for missing passengers near Triveni, close to where the bus plunged into the Tamakoshi river, also stopped buses arriving from Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, Nepal Araniko Yatayat Sewa said on Friday it had suspended all services operating along the Kathmandu–Khurkot–Manthali road section until further notice, citing security risks to passengers, vehicles and staff following the crash.

The bus met with an accident at Lilauti in ward 6 of Manthali at around 10:40am on Tuesday while en route to Polthali in Okhaldhunga. Twelve people died at the scene, three remain missing, and eight were injured after the vehicle plunged into the Tamakoshi river.