National
At least 11 killed as jeep veers off road
At least 11 people were killed and six others injured when a jeep veered off the road at Hansapur in Arghakhanchi district on Sunday.Birendra KC
At least 11 people were killed and six others injured when a jeep veered off the road at Hansapur in Arghakhanchi district on Sunday.
Condition of the four of the injured is said to be critical.
The Mahindra jeep (Lu 1 Ja 4878) was en route from Sandhikharka, the district headquarters of Arghakhanchi, to Bandhikot of Pyuthan.
Nine passengers were killed on the spot while two died while being rushed to hospital, police said. Seven of the deceased were from Arghakhanchi district and two each were from Pyuthan and Gulmi districts.
DSP Nabaratna Poudel said the fatal crash could have been caused along the steep road due to brake failure. Driver Uttam Shrees has been taken into custody for investigation. The driver had managed to jump off the vehicle, said police.
The accident site is about 30 kilometres west of Sandhikharka.
Four critically injured passengers have been taken to Lumbini Zonal Hospital in Butwal for treatment. Two others have been admitted to the district hospital.
Local residents had reached the incident site immediately after the incident. “But it was too difficult for us to rescue the victims as the vehicle had fallen some 700 metres down a steep cliff,” said a local who had reached the site.
This is the third major road accident in the country in the past two weeks.
At least 27 persons were killed at Birtadeurali in Kavre district on August 15 when a passenger bus packed with quake survivors heading home to sign housing aid agreement stalled and started going in reverse before plunging around 500 metres downhill. On Thursday, a bus heading to Pokhara from Rautahat plunged into the Trishuli river at Chandibhanjyang in Chitwan district, killing 22.