KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 23 At least 19 people were killed and 25 others injured when a passenger bus plunged off the Prithvi Highway into the Trishuli River in Dhading district in the early hours of Monday, in the deadliest road accident in recent months. The bus (Ga 2 Kha 1421), travelling to Kathmandu from Pokhara, veered off the road at Bhainsegaunda in Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality–5 at around 1:30 am and fell approximately 200 metres down to the riverbank, according to the District Police Office, Dhading. The bus had departed from Pokhara Tourist Bus Park at 7:00 pm Sunday carrying 34 passengers along with the driver and two staff members - 37 in total. It is believed additional passengers boarded along the route before the accident, a common occurrence on highway services. Police confirmed 44 people, 29 men and 15 women including the driver, were on board at the time of the crash. Detailed verification of the final passenger count is still underway. Preliminary assessment indicates the bus became uncontrollable before plunging off the highway. A detailed investigation into the cause is ongoing. Of the 19 killed, nine have been identified: Bibek Bastola, 40, from Pokhara; Chandra Bahadur Kunwar, 63, from Syangja; Om Kumar Malla, around 40, from Tanahun; Engineer Thakuri, 30, from Dhading; Bishnu Maya Dhakal, 55, from Tanahun; Lopsang Gole, 42, from Kathmandu; Hari Prasad Sigdel, around 45, from Tanahun; Nabindra Shrestha, 55, from Palpa; and Stewart Dominic Ethan, 24, a British national. The remaining victims have yet to be identified, with police noting that some bodies bore distinguishing tattoos. Identification efforts are ongoing. The deceased include 11 men and eight women.

Of the 25 injured, 14 are receiving treatment at the National Trauma Center in Kathmandu, including a Chinese national, 12-year-old Lisi Habu, who sustained moderate head injuries. Ten others are undergoing treatment at National Medical College, Kalanki, with two, Krishna Tiwari of Nawalparasi and Rajesh Kawar of Sitapaila, reported to be in serious condition. Injured passengers were initially rushed to Highway Community Hospital and Teaching Hospital in Malekhu, and District Hospital in Dhadingbesi, before serious cases were referred to Kathmandu. Security personnel from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the Nepal Army, including a diving team from the Armed Police Force's Disaster Management Training School in Kurintar, carried out an overnight rescue operation with support from local residents.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to form a probe committee to investigate the crash, following a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal with participation from senior officials of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, the Department of Roads, the transport entrepreneurs' federation and chiefs of the three security agencies. The composition and leadership of the committee are yet to be finalised. Monday's Dhading tragedy is the deadliest in a troubling spate of major road accidents that has claimed over 40 lives across the country in just three weeks. On Magh 22, a wedding bus crash in Baitadi killed 13 people. Days later, a bus accident in Ramechhap claimed 12 more. The Dhading crash, with 19 dead, is the worst of the three. Police said authorities have begun analysing the patterns behind the recent surge. 'Road condition, vehicle condition and driver negligence are the primary factors,' said a police official, adding that the Dhading bus appeared to have gone out of control before the fall. Monday also saw bus accidents in two other districts. In Udayapur, a bus (Ba 2 Kha 6257) travelling from Katari towards Gaighat met with an accident at Adheri Jogi Tole in Udayapurgadhi Rural Municipality–7 after its brakes failed, sending it approximately 30 to 40 feet off the road. Nearly a dozen passengers were injured in the incident. In Dang, nine people, six men and three women, were injured when a passenger bus (Lu 2 Kha 3277) travelling from Krishnanagar in Kapilvastu towards Tulsipur met with an accident at Chisapani on the Lamahi–Ghorai road section at around 10:40 am. Seven of the injured are receiving treatment at Rapti Health Sciences Academy in Ghorai and two at Lamahi Hospital. The bus driver, Keshar Bahadur Pun, 35, of Rapti Rural Municipality–5, Sishaniya in Dang, has been taken into police custody, according to District Police Office Dang information officer Resham Bohra. As rescue and identification operations continue in Dhading, authorities have reiterated calls for stricter enforcement of road safety regulations and mandatory technical inspections of vehicles operating on major highways.