New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday condoled the loss of lives of Indian tourists -- mostly from Maharashtra -- in a bus accident in Nepal's Tanahun district.
PM Modi, who is on a visit to Ukraine, posted X: "Saddened by the loss of lives due to a road mishap in Tanahun district, Nepal. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest. The Indian Embassy is providing all possible assistance to those affected."
At least 26 tourists hailing from Maharashtra were killed and another 14 injured, some seriously, when a bus plunged into a gorge of the Marsyangdi river in Ambukhereni area of Tanahun district of Nepal.
The bus with 40 Indian passengers, mostly from Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, was plying from the mountainous tourist resort of Pokhara to the Nepal capital Kathmandu when it fell 150-feet into a river gorge.
Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Director Lahu Mali said that the bodies of the victims and the injured persons will enter India from Maharajganj district of the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal border on Saturday afternoon.
From there they will be taken to Gorakhpur Airport by road, a distance of around 4 hours, and arrangements are being made for the onward journey to Nashik Airport, and then by road to Jalgaon.
Since it is not possible to transport so many bodies and injured persons in a commercial flight, the Maharashtra government has written to the Indian Air Force (IAF) to arrange for a special flight.
The special flight is likely to fly from Gorakhpur to Nashik – the nearest airport to Jalgaon – and the state government will bear all the expenses for the same.
The major rescue and relief operations were carried out by the local police, district and Nepal Army authorities, which were completed by Friday evening, officials in Maharashtra said.
As the details of the gruesome disaster trickled earlier on Friday afternoon, the state government maintained constant contact with the Nepal Embassy in Delhi while the Jalgaon Collector was in touch with the Collector of Maharajganj (Uttar Pradesh).
Some government officials from the Maharajganj Collectorate had proceeded to the India-Nepal border to render help, as the bus had a Uttar Pradesh registration number, though exact details were not available.