A tragic bus accident in Tanahun’s Aanbukhaireni on Friday morning claimed the lives of 27 Indian pilgrims and left 16 others injured. The incident occurred when a bus carrying Indian pilgrims from Pokhara to Kathmandu plunged approximately 100 meters into the Marsyangdi River at Ainapahara, Aanbukhaireni Rural Municipality-2 around 11 AM.
The bus, bearing the registration number UP 53 FT 7623, was reported to have 26 passengers who died at the scene, while one succumbed to injuries during treatment at Bharatpur Hospital. The bodies of the deceased have been kept at Aanbukhaireni Hospital for post-mortem examination.
According to Janardan Gautam, Chief District Officer of Tanahun, initial treatment was provided to the injured at Aanbukhaireni Hospital. However, due to the severity of their conditions, 16 injured individuals were airlifted to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for further treatment. The rescue operation involved the Nepal Police, the Nepal Army, the Armed Police Force, and residents.
Gautam explained that residents and the police team from the Aanbukhaireni Police Post were the first to reach the scene and began extracting the passengers from the wreckage. Additional support from the Armed Police Force and Nepal Army arrived shortly after to assist in the rescue efforts. A Nepal Army MI-17 helicopter was deployed to airlift the critically injured to Kathmandu.
The accident temporarily halted traffic on the Prithvi Highway, but one-way traffic resumed in the afternoon. The pilgrims were part of a group of 110 Indian nationals from Maharashtra who had come to Nepal on a week-long pilgrimage. They had visited Lumbini and were in Pokhara for two days before heading towards Kathmandu to visit Pashupatinath Temple. The bus that met with the accident was one of three buses booked from Kesarwani Travels in Gorakhpur.
Efforts to retrieve the bus from the river are ongoing, with additional cranes being brought in due to the challenging terrain and the bus’s precarious position.
Tourism professionals have expressed concern over the impact this tragic accident will have on Nepal’s tourism industry, particularly with Indian religious tourists, who form a significant portion of the visitors to sacred sites like Lumbini, Muktinath, Pashupatinath, and Manakamana.
Arjun Khanal, a tourism entrepreneur, highlighted the challenges faced by Nepal’s tourism sector, which has been struggling with various natural and man-made disasters. “Incidents like this will directly affect Nepal’s tourism business, leading to a decline in Indian tourists,” Khanal remarked.
Another tourism entrepreneur, Durgaprasad Pandey, echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the difficulties posed by Nepal’s infrastructure. “The roads are dangerous, and natural disasters like landslides make travel even more precarious,” Pandey said, adding that such incidents further weaken the already fragile tourism industry.
Local rescuers Kashi Ram Gurung and Sagar Thapa, among the first to reach the accident site, recounted the harrowing scene. “We heard about the bus accident at Ainapahara and rushed to the site. The bus had fallen into the Marsyangdi River and was almost unrecognizable. We managed to rescue around 15-16 passengers, who were crying for help,” Gurung said.
The rescue efforts were challenging due to the steep terrain and lack of access roads. Despite their best efforts, the rescuers could only move the survivors to a safer location by the riverbank before additional help arrived. The rescuers also managed to retrieve 14 bodies from the wreckage before reinforcements from the police, armed forces, and army arrived to assist further.
The tragic accident has cast a shadow over Nepal’s tourism sector, especially with the potential decline in Indian religious tourists, who form a significant portion of the visitors to the country.
