At least 20 people were killed on Thursday when a jeep skidded off a hilly road and plunged about 700 metres into a gorge in Nepal’s Rolpa district, the Kathmandu Post reported police as saying.ย
The accident took place in the Jaljala area when the vehicle slipped on a muddy stretch during rain and plunged down a hillside, officials said.
The private jeep had been hired by locals travelling to attend the Baisakh Purnima celebrations on Friday, according to police inspector Sunil Thapa Nepali, information officer at the District Police Office in Rolpa.
Rescue operations are being hampered by heavy rainfall in the region, police added, noting that the exact number of passengers in the vehicle at the time of the accident is still not known.
7 Indian pilgrims killed as bus plunges off road
Earlier inย March, a passenger bus carrying Indian pilgrims veered off the road and plunged down a slope in central Nepal, leaving seven people dead and seven others injured, police said. The accident occurred in Nepal’s Gandaki Province on March 15. According to police, the microbus was returning from Manakamana Temple when it lost control and fell off the road in Gorkha district.
Police said the electric microbus carrying 16 devotees was returning from Manakamana Temple when it veered off the road and plunged about 200 metres down a slope.
Suraj Aryal, chief of the District Traffic Police Office in Gorkha district, said the deceased included two women and five men, all Indian nationals who had travelled to Manakamana Temple for worship.
Meanwhile, seven other injured passengers were rescued and are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in Anbukhaireni, according to The Kathmandu Post. The driver of the electric bus escaped unharmed, while his assistant sustained injuries in the accident, The Himalayan Times reported.
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