In Nepal, rescuers searched on Saturday for 51 passengers and crew who went missing after a landslide swept their buses into a river swollen by heavy rain, an official said, adding that the chances of finding any survivors were diminishing.
Some 500 rescuers resumed their search of the site of Friday’s incident in Chitwan district, about 86 km (53 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, but security personnel and divers have so far found a curtain from one of the bus windows and a pair of trousers, said Khimananda Bhusal, deputy chief administrator of the district.
Seven Indian nationals are among the missing passengers. At least three other passengers managed to jump off the buses before the landslide struck, escaping with minor injuries.
Later reports in the local Nepal media confirmed three survivors who were able to get out of the buses they were in and swam to safety. It seems all others perished.
“Chances of finding survivors are slim because over 30 hours have passed since the buses were swept into the river. The water level has receded this morning, but it is still very murky,” Bhusal told Reuters by telephone.
Search teams are drawn from the local police, Armed Police and the army. Twelve divers have been mobilised from the Disaster Management Training Institute in Kurintar, near the Trisuli River. The army too has sent in divers.
Search operations were suspended at 7pm last evening due to poor light and the need to ensure the safety of the rescue teams. Weather warnings suggest heavy rainfall in these and other areas on Saturday, which means search and rescue efforts may only get underway once the rain stops.
Landslides and floods triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 91 people in Nepal since mid-June. Images on social media on Friday showed rescue boats on the fast-flowing Trishuli River.
Following the landslide, the government announced plans to ban buses from travelling at night in places with poor weather forecasting facilities.
