Kathmandu, September 20:

Sixty-year-old Raja Sahani was coming to Kathmandu from Motihari to help his son, a scrap dealer, but fate had other things in store for him. With left arm fractured in the bus-plunge in the Mahesh stream yesterday, he is awaiting surgery in Bir hospital.

According to staffers, 26 persons injured in the bus plunge were admitted to the hospital yesterday.

Of them, 23 have been discharged.

Sahani, another Indian national Raja Sahani (37) and Mangal Bahadur Tamang, 50, of Kathmandu are still undergoing treatment. The hospital has discharged his son, Amiri Sahani, 27.

Sugrib, a relative of the Sahanis, who is looking after the elder Sahani, said he did not have money for the treatment of his injured kin.

“We paid for X-Ray and other minor expenses, but how will they sustain if they cannot work?” Sugrib said. With six children to fee, the elder Sahani said he did not have money for treatment.

No different is the plight of Bijaya Prasad Shah, who is lying in a bed at the orthopaedic ward with arms fractured and face swollen. “I was in the cabin of the bus and most people who were with me died. God saved me. Now I don’t know if I will be able to go back to work and fend for my family,” he said. “I wonder if the bus company will help with my treatment. I cannot afford treatment as I have to look after my wife and four children.”

Shah, who hails from Mujaffarpur, has been engaged in scrap trade in Thamel for 18 years. He was coming to Kathmandu after a brief visit to his home.

According to a nurse on duty, Sita Gyawali, the hospital does not have enough beds, adding that the injured will have to wait for treatment. Recuperation will take time. They will have to wait for a few months to be able to work.