Kathmandu, April 8

Two Nepali migrant workers were among at least 11 persons killed in a road accident in Sepang, Malaysia, last night.

The deceased Nepalis have been identified as Jagarnath Singh Danuwar, 28, and Ramu Chaudhary, 37, according to the Embassy of Nepal in Kuala Lumpur.

Five Bangladeshis, three Indonesians and one Malaysian bus driver were also killed when a bus ferrying 43 passengers, including 14 Nepalis, employed with cargo handling company MASkargo from their hostel in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport skidded off the road and fell into a 10-metre-deep roadside drain at around 11.30pm local time. The accident occurred near the MASkargo Complex, KLIA, at Jalan S8 Pekeliling in Sepang.

Of the 12 injured Nepalis, four have returned home after receiving treatment from local hospitals, while eight are undergoing treatment. Four of them have been admitted to local Serdang Hospital and two each in Banting Hospital and Putrajaya Hospital.

Kumar Raj Kharel, deputy chief of mission at the embassy, said all the injured were out of danger, except Keshav Thapa, who was being in Critical Care Unit. “Thapa’s condition, however, is stable,” Kharel told THT over the phone from Kuala Lumpur.

Kharel said the cause of the accident had yet to be ascertained and local police was investigating the incident.

KLIA District Police Chief Assistant Commissioner Zulkifli Adamshah told New Straits Times that workers were supposed to clock in for their midnight work shift.

“The driver has been booked under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act for causing death by reckless or dangerous driving,” the news portal quoted Adamshah as saying.

According to Kharel, the bodies will be repatriated to Nepal within two to three days after their kin in Nepal write to the embassy requesting for the same through district administration offices concerned or the Department of Consular Services in Kathmandu.

The embassy would then begin the process of claiming compensation. Kharel said the process of claiming compensation would take six months to one year.

He said the injured would also get compensation in case of any disabilities caused due to the accident.