Bharatpur [Nepal], August 24 : An Indian Air Force aircraft has airlifted 25 bodies of Indian pilgrims killed in a road accident in Western Nepal on Saturday evening. The military aircraft flew into Bharatpur city of Chitwan district, near the Tanahun district, where an India-registered bus had crashed on Friday.
The aircraft which had taken off from West Bengal, India flew back to Maharashtra carrying 25 bodies of the deceased in the Aanbu Khaireni bus accident. A total of 27 people were killed in the bus accident which had veered off the road into the river basin.
"Out of 27 killed in the accident, two of the bodies were sent to Gorakhpur by road, to their hometown. They were the driver and the assistant of the bus. The remaining 25 bodies are carried by the Indian Air Force aircraft which flew in this late afternoon at the Bharatpur Airport. The remaining 25 bodies are destined for Jalgaon district in Maharashtra and the aircraft is said to land at Mumbai this evening," Indradev Yadav, Chief District Officer of Chitwan confirmedover phone.
Autopsies of the body were performed at Bharatpur Hospital and handed over to the Indian authorities for transportation.
Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, and Maharashtra legislator, Sanjay Shubhakar, arrived in Nepal on Saturday morning to inquire about the health condition of the injured Indian nationals. Both the officials returned on the same aircraft.
Khadse met all the 16 injured undergoing treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu and received updates. Khadse also met with the Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and took a briefing from the ministry officials about the rescue operation that took place on Friday.
"Met 16 Indian nationals who were injured in the road accident yesterday and currently undergoing treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (Kathmandu) along with Home Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak," she wrote on X after the hospital visit.
Raksha Nikhil Khadse also thanked the minister and the Nepal government for the prompt and timely assistance provided for the search and rescue operations as also for the treatment of the injured. She appreciated the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for providing necessary assistance and coordination on the ground with Nepalese authorities.
At least 27 Indian nationals were killed and 16 others injured when a bus with an Indian registration number plunged into Marsyangdi River at Anbukhaireni Rural Municipality in Tanahun district on Friday.
The bus was en route to Kathmandu from Pokhara when it skidded off the road at Ainapahara in ward 2 of the rural municipality and fell about 150 metres into the river at around 11:30 am (local time) on Friday.
While 26 people died at the crash site, one more succumbed to injuries at Old Medical College in Chitwan, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Paudel of the District Traffic Police Office, Tanahun.
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