At least 10 killed in bus accident in Mid-Western Nepal: official

At least 10 people were killed when a passenger bus veered off the road and plunged down at Rakam Karnali of Dailekh District in the Mid-Western Region of Nepal on Wednesday afternoon, a senior government official told Xinhua by phone.

Chief of the District Administration Office of Dailekh, Prakash Adhikari, said that at least 10 people were killed as the bus carrying around 30 passengers plunged some 300 meters down to Karnali River at around 3:30 p.m. local time.

Adhikari said that 18 people were injured in the accident. "We have launched rescue operations with the support of local residents and police," Adhikari told Xinhua from the accident site.

The bus was heading from Kalikot to Mahendranagar of Kanchanpur District, a city located in the Far Western Region of Nepal bordering with India, some 500 km west of the Nepali Capital.

Officials said a few injured passengers are receiving treatment at local hospitals while the seriously-injured ones would be airlifted to Kathmandu for further treatment.

Adhikari said they are yet to ascertain the cause of the latest bus accident.

The poor condition of roads and ill-maintained vehicles contribute to frequent road accidents in mostly mountainous Nepal, local media reports said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)