BARA, AUGUST 24At least seven people died and seventeen others were injured after a bus carrying Indian pilgrims met with an accident along the Pathaliya-Hetauda road section at Churiyamai of Jitpursimara sub-metropolis in Bara today. Bara bus accident: all deceased identified Six killed as bus carrying pilgrims veers off road in Bara Three male and four female passengers died after the bus fell some 15 metres below the road early this morning.

The bus bearing number plate Pra-3-001 Kha 7994 was heading towards Janakpur from Kathmandu.Of the deceased, one was Nepali citizen and six others were Indian nationals.

The accident occurred due to overspeeding, said police. DSP Dadhiram Neupane of Bara police said Bijaya Lal Pandit, 41, of Loharpatti, Mahottari, and Bahadur Singh, 67, Mira Devi, 65, Baijanti Devi, 65, Shreekanta Chaturbedi, 70, Rajendra Chaturbedi, 70, and Satyawati, 60, of Rajasthan, India, died in the accident.The injured are receiving treatment at Hetauda-based Churchill Hospital and Hetauda Hospital, said police.Police said Ghanashyam Chaturbedi, Maya Devi, Anil Kumar, Charawati Chaturbedi, Shyam Lal Mali, Harwani Mali, Chauthi Devi, Suresh Chakrawarti, Ram Prasad, Dharam Singh, Indu Dhanku, Ram Kumar Chaturbedi, Garbida Chaturbedi and Kritika Chaturbedi of Rajastan, India, were injured in the accident.Similarly, Ghuran Mandal of Mauwa Rural Municipality, Bihari Mukhiya of Jaleshwor and Jasabender Paswan of Loharpatti, Mohattari were also injured, said police.

Police said the driver was at large after the accident.

Later, Dhanusha police arrested the absconding driver.Police could not rescue the people as information about the accident arrived late.

The police teams from Area Police Office, Amlekhgunj, and Simara were deployed immediately after the information reached police.Further investigation into the accident is under way, said police.A version of this article appears in the print on August 25, 2023, of The Himalayan Times. .

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