Seven persons were killed and 18 others were injured when a jeep met with an accident at Batas, Bulingtar VDC-8 in Nawalparasi district late Saturday night. Bulingtar lies in the hilly part of the district.

The jeep with registration plate number Ga 1 Ja 3632 was heading towards Chharchhare, Dandajheri from Daldaley at the time of the accident, the police station at Bulingtar stated.

The deceased in the accident include 28-year-old Samanti Bache, 52-year-old Khim Bahadur Bache, 42-year-old Lok Bahadur Bache, 22-year-old Deepak Phal, 40-year-old Jaya Bahadur Bache and 49-year-old Kisan Bache. The name and address of one of the deceased is not ascertained yet.

It is stated that the victims were returning after participating in discussions at the Bulingtar police station over a dispute in their village.

Police suspects that the casualties occurred when the jeep hit a crowd of people. The jeep fell some 200 metres from the road after hitting the people.

Rescue has been difficult due to the difficult terrain. The injured could be taken to the Bharatpur Medical College and Narayani Community Hospital only in the morning today. The bodies of the deceased have been kept at the primary health centre at Dumkauli for a post-mortem.

A pall of sorrow has descended in Chharchhare village due to the death of so many people from the village. The jeep driver is also critically injured. The accident site is 50 kilometres to the north of the East-West highway. RSS