Twenty people died in the accident. Of these, 14 relatives and family members of the young man Budhathoki died on the spot. The young man's husband Deepak is returning home from the US to collect the bodies of the six people, including his wife and son.
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Six bodies of those who lost their lives in the Jaljala jeep accident in Rolpa are yet to be handed over to their families. The bodies have been kept at the district hospital awaiting the arrival of their relatives.
Budhathoki, a young woman from Rukum East, and her 10-year-old son Divyan died in the accident that happened on Thursday. With this, the young woman's dream of meeting her life partner and Divyan's father in the US ended forever. Twenty people died in the accident. Of these, 14 of the young woman's relatives and family members, including her family members, died on the spot.
Deepak, the young woman's husband, is returning home from the US to collect the bodies of the six people along with his wife and son. The family and his relatives in the district are now in a state of shock. Their pain knows no bounds. The youth and his son, along with their mother-in-law Tilkumari Budhathoki, brother-in-law Gorkha Bahadur VC, younger sister-in-law Omkumari Budhathoki, her son Sudeep and daughter Srijana Budhathoki, died in the accident. Srijana's body has been identified by her relatives in Salyan. The family has stated that Deepak will identify the remaining six bodies after arriving from America.
The youth's father-in-law Narendra Bahadur, who lost his wife, younger son, elder daughter-in-law and grandson along with his younger brother-in-law and grandchildren, is in mourning. 'The son had called his grandson and daughter-in-law to America,' said Narendra, 'They were preparing to reach Kathmandu from Rukumkot on Baisakh 20 and fly to America on the 28th.' He said that God had done injustice to him. His tears have run out and his eyelashes have become dry. ‘My son had to come to collect the body of his daughter-in-law who was preparing to meet her husband,’ he said, ‘I was blessed. Everything is over for me!’ The youth’s husband Deepak is on a trip from America to Nepal on Friday evening.’
After reaching home by Sunday night, relative Jeevan Khadka informed that preparations are underway to hold a mass cremation of six members of the family on Monday. Apart from these six from the same family, three from Rukumkot and one from Bhume who lost their lives in an accident were cremated on Saturday. Of the nine relatives of the youth, seven bodies have been taken to Dang and two to Lamjung. The youth’s mother Drupati GC, father Yama Bahadur GC, sister-in-law Tila Bista GC, son of sister-in-law Janis and daughter Janisa, and relative Dhanmaya Bista, along with sister Alisa GC and her son Sanyog Thapa, who had married and moved to Lamjung, were killed in the incident.
The other deceased are jeep driver Beduram BK from Dang and his mother-in-law Meena BK from Rukumkot, and Laxmi Shah, Rukmina Basnet from Rukumkot and Tek Prasad Budha from Bhume. Meena, Laxmi and Rukmina were cremated in the Sanibheri River on Saturday and Tek Prasad was cremated in Bhume. The young man's family was on their way to attend a special puja at Jaljala on the day of Chandi Purnima, which fell on Friday, when the accident occurred. Out of 21 passengers, only Samir Kami managed to survive as he was sitting on the roof of the jeep. After receiving basic treatment, Samir returned home the same day.
Samir said that the road was slippery due to rain and the vehicle suddenly 'backed' on the steep road, causing it to skid and fall off the cliff. ‘Suddenly the vehicle moved backwards and before I could think anything, it left the road,’ he said, ‘I fell to the ground and saved my life by holding onto a tree.’ He said that he did not see any trace of the vehicle when he looked. ‘It all happened in a few seconds,’ he said, ‘I could not think anything at that time.’
The Ministry of Home Affairs had formed a four-member committee under the coordination of Lumbini Province Police Office Tulsipur Superintendent of Police Yadav Dhakal on Thursday to investigate the accident. The committee was given time to study the facts of the incident and submit a report within three days, but that time expired on Saturday. Locals say that such accidents occur due to the indiscriminate loading of passengers and goods in vehicles plying on local routes in the hilly and mountainous regions. Rukum East civic leader Uday KC says that the police should be strict about the conditions of vehicle operation.
‘There are police posts and traffic on every road, they should not allow any vehicle to operate if it is technically weak and overloaded,’ he said, ‘but even in such cases, they are being issued a ticket and released. This does not reduce the risk. Because, the job of traffic is to provide security rather than revenue collection.’ Rukum East Police Chief Khumananda Pandey said on Thursday that the jeep that went from Rukumkot to Jaljala in the reserve had a capacity of 13 people and claimed that entry was made at all places accordingly. He said that the police were tricked and more people than the capacity were put in the jeep.
