The number of people who died in a jeep accident in Bajhang district on Wednesday afternoon has reached seven.
The jeep, with registration number SuPra 01-001 Cha 117, met with an accident at Tufan Danda in Mashta Rural Municipality-1, Bajhang when it was heading to Khetkot in Mashta-2 from district headquarters Chainpur. The jeep fell 200 meters off the road and got stuck in a ditch, according to Ramesh Dutta Awasthi, information officer at District Police Office, Bajhang.
Six people died on the spot while one succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The deceased have been identified as 15-year-old Roshan Khadka, 28-year-old Basanti Dhami, 13-year-old Prachanda Khadka, 38-year-old Birendra Adhikari, seven-month-old Dakshita Kathayat and 13-year-old Samjhana Khadka of Khetkot, Mashta-2; and 42-year-old Jharendra Bohara of Shuklaphanta Municipality, Kanchanpur.
Sixteen others were injured in the accident and are undergoing treatment at the district hospital, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Jageshwar Bhandari at District Police Office, Bajhang. Five of them have been referred to Dhangadhi for further treatment as they are reportedly in critical condition.
The injured are 13-year-old Roshani Dhami, Singh Bir Budha, 35-year-old jeep driver Rajesh Rokaya, four-year-old Sirjan Singh, 11-year-old Ambika Singh, 50-year-old Sinki Devi Bhandari, 25-year-old Kamala Kathayat, 21-year-old Nanda Okheda, 75-year-old Bir Bahadur Khadka, eight-year-old Amrit Khadka of Mashta-2; 22-year-old Ishwar Okheda, Anis Okheda, 10-year-old Ankit Khadka, four-year-old Simran Singh, 22-year-old Hemanti Singh, and 36-year-old Santosh Singh of Sada, Mashta-2, according to information officer Awasthi.
The passengers were returning from the Sildevi fair in Chainpur when the accident occurred, Mashta-1 ward chair Ram Chandra Rokaya said.
Police suspect overloading could have caused the accident as the jeep was traveling with more passengers than its capacity on unpaved road.
(With inputs from RSS)
