BHOJPUR: As many as 17 people sustained injuries after the bus they were travelling on collided with a tipper in Dharmadevi Municipality-5 of Sankhuwasabha district on Thursday afternoon.

All the injured are the bus passengers. Among the injured, the four passengers — Khadga Limbu (82) of Buddha Shanti Rural Municipality-4 in Jhapa district, Menuka Thapa (50) of Chainpur Municipality- 5, Santosh Gautam (18), and Sabina Khati (10) of Chainpur-2 — are said to be in critical condition.

The incident occurred as the tipper (Ba 2 Ka 8515) en route from Mudhe to Chainpur collided with the bus (Ko 1 Kha 2161) en route from Nundhaki to Dharan injuring 17 passengers, at Nursery Chok in Mamling area, yesterday afternoon, according to Police Inspector Ramji Katuwal at Sankhuwasabha District Police Office.

The critically injured have been sent to the Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health and Sciences (BPKIHS) for the treatment while the remaining injured are undergoing treatment at a health facility in Mudhe, Dharmadevi, police informed.

Meanwhile, police have detained tipper driver Dhan Bahadur Damai of Dharmadevi-5 and bus driver Man Bahadur Ale of Morang and impounded both the vehicles for the investigation into the incident, the DPO informed.