Indian search and rescue team arrives in Nepal

KATHMANDU, July 20: A team of Indian rescue workers has arrived in Nepal to help search for the missing people after the Simaltal bus accident.

Over a week ago, two buses from Simaltal fell into the Trishuli river along the Narayangadh-Muglin road after they were swept away by a landslide. The search for the missing passengers was continued tirelessly by the security agencies.

Anil Pokhrel, executive chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said a 12-member team from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had arrived in Nepal to assist Nepal in the search for those missing since the Simaltal tragedy.

The Indian rescue team entered Nepal this morning via the Sunauli border crossing and is on its way to the scene of the accident. The rescue workers from the neighboring country will begin their work today.

The team is equipped with the necessary equipment for underwater search and rescue. It was announced that they brought three state-of-the-art sonar devices with them.

The team from neighboring countries reaches the scene of the accident together with the armed police team.

Chief Minister Pokhrel told RSS that Nepal’s resources were not sufficient to find the victims and that the government had therefore requested foreign help. The Home Ministry had asked India for help through the Ministry of External Affairs.

Similarly, Dr Bhishma Kumar Bhusal, head of the Disaster and Conflict Management Division of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, said the Indian government was written to on July 15, requesting expert assistance and the Indian team arrived in response to this request.

On July 12, the Trishuli River swallowed two buses swept into it by a landslide in Simaltal. The ill-fated passenger buses were an Angel bus from Birgunj (Bagmati Province, 03-006 Kha 1516) to Kathmandu and another Ganapati Deluxe bus from Kathmandu (Bagmati Province, 03-2495 Kha 001) to Gaur, Rauthat.

Of the 65 passengers on the two buses, three escaped death, while 62 were missing. Of the missing passengers, the bodies of 23 have so far been recovered.

A task force set up by the Ministry of the Interior is investigating the tragic incident.