27 injured in Nawalpur bus-fire engine collision

NAWALPUR: As many as 27 people were injured after a passenger bus collided with a fire engine in Madhyebindu Municipality-15 along the Mahendra Highway of Nawalpur on Wednesday morning.

Of the injured, seven are said to be in critical condition.

According to police, the fire engine (Lu 1 Ga 310) collided head-on with the passenger bus (Lu 1 Kha 8797) in the forest area between Chormara and Arunkhola at 8:30 am today.

The fire engine belonging to Kawasoti Municipality was returning after clearing the landslide debris off the road in Daunne while the bus was en route from Kathmandu to Bhairahawa at the time of the incident, police informed.

The critically injured — six of the bus passengers and a fire engine staffer  — have been sent to Bharatpur Hospital while 20 other passengers with minor injuries are undergoing treatment at Arunkhola-based Manakamana Policlinic, informed Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lilaraj Lamichhane at District Police Office based in Kawasoti.

Meanwhile, police have impounded both the vehicles and detained the drivers for further investigation, police said.