New Delhi, Aug 24 (IANS): Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Khadse on Saturday reached Kathmandu, Nepal to oversee relief and repatriation operations in connection with the Tanahun District bus tragedy in which many Indians were killed and injured.

Hours after reaching Nepal, Raksha Khadse said in a post on X, "Discussion on rescue operation & further course of action at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu with Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava and Joint Secretary of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Nepal B Dhungana."

According to the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, 27 Indians have lost their lives in the accident and 16 passengers were injured.

The 16 injured passengers were airlifted to Kathmandu for further treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital.

The Youth Affairs and Sports Minister visited the hospital to meet the injured people admitted there and put up a social media post on X regarding the visit, saying that she had enquired about the treatment being given to them.

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu continues to be in constant touch with local authorities and the hospital staff for treatment of the injured and for the earliest repatriation of the mortal remains of the deceased to India. The Embassy has also issued 24×7 Emergency relief numbers.

The bus carrying mostly Indian tourists hailing from Maharashtra plunged into a gorge of the Marsyangdi River in the Ambukhereni area of Tanahun District of Nepal on Friday.

The passengers, mostly from Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, were plying from the mountainous tourist resort of Pokhara to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu in the bus when it fell 150 feet into a river valley.

This is the second major calamity to befall people from Jalgaon in a foreign land in the past three months.