CHITWAN: The death toll in the Trishuli bus fall has reached 21 after one person succumbed to injuries at hospital, according to police. As many as 20 persons had died on the spot after the passenger bus that left Gaur, Rautahat for Pokhara, Kaski plunged into the Trishuli River at Chandibhanjyang of Chitwan district earlier this morning. (Updated)

20 killed, 17 injured in Chitwan bus accident

CHITWAN: At least 20 persons were killed and 17 others injured when the bus they were aboard plunged 100 metres down into Trishuli River along the Narayangadh-Muglin road section in Chitwan district, at around 4:45 am in the wee hours of Friday.

The ill-fated passenger bus Ga 1 Kha 3709, heading to Pokhara  from Gaur of Rautahat district,  met with accident near Kalikhola in Chandibhanjyang VDC of Chitwan district, according to Superintendent of Police (SP) Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, the chief of Chitwan District Police Office.

It is said that there were 39 people including bus driver and a conductor on the bus. The whereabouts of driver and conductor, however, was immediately not known.

As many as 30 passengers had boarded the bus at Gaur and seven others at Chandranigahpur, according to the general secretary of Prithvi Highway Bus Entrepreneurs Committee (PHBEC), Yogendra KC.

The casualties are yet to be identified.

The incident site is 2.5 km away from Munglin, informed police.

Police and locals rescued the injured and fished out the bodies from the wreckage of bus, which was submerged in the river.

Meanwhile, the injured have been sent to the hospitals in Bharatpur in the district. Security personnel deployed from Chitwan DPO are carrying out the search operation at the site.

Police are trying to find out the cause of the pre-dawn accident.

Poorly maintained vehicles and roads and carelessness on the part of drivers are held responsible for the most of the highway accidents in Nepal.