At least four persons died while nine others were injured when a passenger bus met with an accident at Bhardaha-1 along the Bhardaha-Koshi barrage road section in Saptari district on Friday morning.

Bus driver and passengers claimed that the bus turned over when protesters threw stones at the vehicle, but police said the driver lost the control and that there was no incident of stone pelting. DSP Narayan Chimauriya said no one had pelted stones at the moving bus.

Surya Karki, the owner of the bus, however, claimed that the protesting Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) activists had hurled stones at the bus. “After I was hit by a stone, I lost control of the vehicle,” Parshuram Bhandari, a member of Mechi Transport Entrepreneurs Association, quoted driver Lakpa Tamang as saying.

Some passengers said the driver panicked and lost control after he was hit by stones.

“Driver Lakpa Tamang has sustained injuries on his head,” said Karki.

There were around 35 passengers on board the bus.

Police identified one of the deceased as Nirjala Basnet of Tulsipur-9, Dhanusha. Another deceased is yet to be identified. Chief of Bhardaha Area Police, Surendra Kherbar, said police found an ATM card with the name Jiban Kumar Adhikari from the third deceased. One of the injured, who appeared to be in his 30s, died while receiving treatment at Golden Hospital in Biratnagar.

The passenger bus (Na 5 Kha 1664) was en route from Sindhuli to Kakadbhitta and was being escorted by security personnel.