Falling Rock Hits Moving Bus in Kapilvastu, Injuring Four
Four passengers were injured after a falling boulder struck a moving night bus along the East-West Highway in Kapilvastu early Tuesday morning.
Four passengers sustained injuries early Tuesday morning after a falling boulder struck a moving night bus along the East-West Highway in Kapilvastu district.
The incident took place around 1:30 am in the Chorkhola area of Shivraj Municipality-1. According to security officials and news reports, a rock dislodged from a roadside slope and crashed through the bus, pinning four passengers between crushed seats. There were 30 people on board when the rock hit.
Following the strike, the driver steered the damaged bus to Bhalubang in neighboring Dang district to alert authorities and seek immediate assistance, Kendrabindu reported.
Upon learning of the accident, security forces initiated an emergency response. Armed Police Force personnel from the No. 29 Jwalamai Battalion in Dang, commanded by Deputy Superintendent of Police Baburam Thapa, worked alongside Nepal Police to extricate the passengers from the damaged seats, according to Onlinekhabar and its English service.
The injured are two men from Geruwa Rural Municipality in Bardiya and two women, from Bharatpur in Chitwan and from Kanchanpur. Gorkhapatra reported that one man sustained facial wounds and a fractured right leg and the other head and neck injuries, while the two women, with leg and back injuries, were in stable condition.
Kendrabindu and Onlinekhabar reported that the bus was travelling from Chitwan to Bardiya; Gorkhapatra said it was on a route from Kathmandu to Dang.
Reports on injury severity also differed. Kendrabindu cited the Armed Police Force describing the victims' injuries as moderate, but Gorkhapatra cited District Traffic Police Office Kapilvastu Chief Inspector Rajan Dhakal stating that the two male passengers were in serious condition.
All four injured individuals initially received medical attention at Bhalubang Hospital in Dang. At around 3:35 am, medical personnel referred them to Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj, Banke, for further specialized treatment, according to Gorkhapatra.