A packed bus on its way to Nepal’s capital has driven off a mountain highway in Nepal, killing 19 people and leaving another 25, including a New Zealander, wounded.
There were dozens of people on board the bus, which was heading from the resort city of Pokhara to Kathmandu when it drove off the Prithvi highway after midnight, police said. The bus rolled down a mountain slope and landed on the banks of Trishuli river near Benighat, about 80 kilometres west of the capital, Kathmandu.
Among those who died was a 24-year-old British national, according to a statement from the Dhading district police office. Only nine bodies have been identified.
after midnight, police said. Photo: APT
Rescuers reached the accident site soon after the accident, and the injured were pulled out of the wreckage and driven to hospitals for treatment, according to government administrator Mohan Prasad Neupane.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident.
The bus landed on the banks of the fast flowing mountain river. Two buses with 65 people on board fell into the same river in 2024 and were lost, with most aboard either killed or still missing. Wreckage of one of the buses was found only this year, buried deep in sand.