Kathmandu -A terrible road accident has claimed the lives of at least 28 people in Nepal when a bus carrying wedding guests also known as baratis crashed over 200 meters into a deep trench on a bad highway by the name Prithvi Highway. The accident that occurred very early in the morning on Friday near Ugde village in Tanahun district has rocked the country and rekindled the memories of the lethality of the Nepal mountainous roads.
The unfortunate bus was a 35-seater which with more than 50 merry people on board was going to a wedding in the neighbouring districts when it lost control at approximately 5:30 AM. The eyewitnesses were able to tell that the car skipped a sharp turn and then went off the shoulder of the narrow highway. A villager Ram Bahadur Gurung, came to the rescue of the people and said, “We had heard a great scream, and then heard a great shouting in the ravine. The bus would roll over several times in the air before it landed on the water body which was full of loose rocks before it fell into the trench.
The rescue operation was immediately in full swing, which involved Nepal Police, Armed Police Force as well as local volunteers. Clearance of the steep drop of 200 meters was done by excavators and cranes which turned out to be a nightmare because of the rugged terrain. By midday, the bodies of 28 people were retrieved including the brother of the bridegroom and several children. Over 20 others were critically injured critically and most of them were airlifted to the Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara. The government is concerned that the death toll will continue to rise since the rescue mission of those under the rubble continues.
This incident occurred on the Prithvi Highway which is a significant road of 173 km connecting Kathmandu and Pokhara and goes across the Himalayas. The road is reported to have hundreds of hairpin turns, landslides and bad maintenance that have claimed hundreds of life since the years. In the same plunge only during the last monsoon 15 tourists were killed. Traffic genius Dr Sushil Gyawali commented that it is the order of the day as far as overloading, road rage, and exhaustion of drivers are concerned. The highway lacks guardrails in the majority of cases and it turns even the slightest errors into tragedies.
The victims were people of Sindhupalchowk district, which lies to the north of Kathmandu on their way to celebrate a family wedding in Tanahun. Among the survivors in horror was a groom Krishna Prasad Shrestha who is 28 years old. Minutes earlier, they were singing songs of a wedding, one of the relations informed the hospital. Entire families are destroyed now. The images posted on social media showed colored garlands of the wedding lying on the ground where the crash had occurred, which was a sad reminder of the happiness that had been changed into sadness.
Transport Minister of Nepal Gyanendra Bahadur Karki expressed his apology and also ordered an inquiry. During a press conference, he stated that they will examine whether it is a mechanical fault or driving like maniacs. There are early reports of brake failure that was aggravated by overloading – the bus had 55 passengers which is above the 35 capacity which is a common cause of brake failure in the locality. The Department of Transport Management records illustrate that over 2,000 people die each year on the road and buses are the biggest killers of road accidents in Nepal (40).
The social outcry on the internet has gone on as the hashtags; FixPrithviHighway and NepalRoadSafety are trending. The activists demand that there be load limits, mandatory fitness tests, and barriers. Rabi Lamichhane, a high-profile journalist, tweeted about how many more lives do we have to live before we move? As a response to it, the police proclaimed speed limits and patrols of perilous roads.
This crash triggers the bad memories of the former tragedies. In 2024, a bus fell into the Marsyagdi River which was next to the bus killing 63. The reason, as put forward by civil engineers like Prabin Manandhar, is poor infrastructure that is not being invested in: In Nepal, the roads are expanding faster than the safety standards. Climate change increases landslides rendering the paths even more narrow.
In commemoration of families who have lost their loved ones, Tanahun has created blood donation committees and makeshift shelters. The village is left behind mourning the marriage that will be ended. It is still awful when told firsthand: I jumped out as it went by, and I had a broken leg and a broken ankle, said Tamang who was a passenger. “Others weren’t so lucky.”
The international donor bodies like the Red Cross are also offering their services and even the government of Nepal has promised the families a compensation of NPR 3 lakh (around 2250 dollars) each. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called it a national tragedy and demanded discipline on the roads.
Safety crisis on Nepal roads is an issue that needs immediate solutions such as cars of better efficiency, highly qualified drivers, and good roads. All expeditions along these perilous roads so far have been gambles. The baratis which had started to rejoice at their fall to the ground is a bright premonition of their doom.
