A week after the Simaltal accident: The condition of the two missing buses and 48 passengers in Trishuli is still unknown

But the two buses lost in Trishuli have not been found yet. Chitwan District Administration Office has informed that there are 65 passengers in both buses. Three passengers of one of them reached the river but swam out by themselves.

Only these three passengers are safe in this accident, the search for other passengers is still going on. The search team found 20 dead bodies from the Narayani river bank far below the accident site till Thursday evening. Only 14 of them have been confirmed to be the bodies of the passengers of the crashed bus and have been identified by their relatives. Although the search team found the remaining 6 bodies, it is not clear who they belong to. Therefore, the condition of 48 passengers remains unknown. The government formed a task force on June 31 to study the

accident. The nine-member working group headed by the joint secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Chabilal Rizal, came back to Chitwan on Wednesday. Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav said in a discussion with the task force at the Chitwan District Administration Office on Wednesday afternoon that it will be difficult to locate and identify the body as the time passes since the accident.

On the day of the accident, the flow of the river was high. It is estimated that the dead bodies have reached the Indian territory. We have also brought dead bodies from Triveni area at 103 km. But now it is difficult to find the body. Even if it is found, there may be a problem with identification,' Chief District Officer Yadav said in the discussion. As the day of the accident lengthens, the body begins to rot/decompose.

"Now even if the dead body is found, it will be easier if there are clothes or other identification items with it, otherwise it will be difficult," said Chief District Officer of Chitwan, Yadav. He said that some bodies were found with 95 percent buried in the sand. Chief District Officer Yadav informed that one of the dead bodies found was that of the passenger of the missing bus, but there was a doubt about the identification.

Last Friday at around 3:30 AM, Ganpati transport bus No. 03-001 Bh 2495 coming from Kathmandu to Gaur and Angel bus No. 03-006 Bh 1516 of Wagmati Province going to Kathmandu from Birganj fell in Sinduregaira, North Simaltal, about 23 km east of Narayangadh. They disappeared after falling into Trishuli while flowing in a landslide with Ledo.

The bus with all the passengers reached Barkhama Bhel about 100 meters down and reached the Trishuli River in Urle, but three passengers of Ganapati Transport came up by swimming. Everyone else went with the bus. There were also nine Indian passengers in the bus going from Birgunj to Kathmandu, seven people and two in the other bus. Chief District Officer Yadav informed that the bodies of only four Indians were found and identified.

Yadav said that coordination has also been done with the district authorities of West Champaran in Bihar state and Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh state on the suspicion that the dead bodies have flowed past the Triveni dam and reached Indian territory. Chief District Officer Yadav says that the government has used all the manpower and equipment in its power to search for the bus and the missing passengers. Despite the use of equipment such as divers and sonar to search underwater, no sign of the missing bus was found in the river.