The driver who was injured during a bus fire incident in Tripureshwar, Kathmandu, has died.
The driver died while receiving treatment at Kirtipur Hospital on Monday night, according to Superintendent of Police Naresh Raj Subedi of the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office.
“The bus driver died while undergoing treatment last night,” he said.
The identity of the deceased driver, who operated Riddhi Siddhi Yatayat’s bus with registration number Ba 5 Kha 4274, has not yet been established. The man was initially identified as Dawa Lama of Bagmati Rural Municipality, and police had recovered a driving license bearing that name.
However, the driver’s identity remains unconfirmed after a man named Dawa Lama came forward and contacted authorities. SP Subedi said that no relatives of the deceased have yet come forward to identify him.
“No relatives have come forward so far, so identification has not been possible. A license belonging to a person named Dawa Lama had been recovered. There were also reports that the person had also identified himself as Dawa,” he said. “Dawa Lama has now contacted us and reported that his license was lost. We are investigating.”
Police said that the person’s identity could later turn out to be different.
A video had also emerged showing an argument between the driver and traffic police at Tripureshwar Chowk around noon on Monday. In the video, the driver appears angry, saying that traffic police were trying to issue him a ticket despite him not having committed any wrongdoing.
During the dispute, he parked the bus across the road. He later drove and stopped it at a bus stop. After all the passengers had got off, he set fire inside the bus. He was also injured in the fire. Police rescued him and took him to Kirtipur Hospital for treatment.
A five-member probe committee has been formed under Senior Superintendent of Police Ramesh Basnet of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office to investigate the incident. The committee has been instructed to submit its report as soon as possible.
