Dozens of people are missing after two buses were swept into a swollen river in Nepal by a landslide amid torrential monsoon rain.
The buses were swept off a road and into the Trishuli River near Simaltal, about 74 miles west of the capital Kathmandu, at around 3am.
At least 62 people were missing, according to local district officials, while Rabi Lamichhane, the country’s home minister, told its parliament 51 passengers were unaccounted for and more than 500 rescue personnel have been assigned to the search operation.
Three passengers were rescued and are receiving hospital treatment, government administrator Khima Nanada Bhusal said.
They reportedly jumped out of a bus and swam to the riverbank where they were met by local residents who took them to a nearby hospital.
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“There were 41 people in the bus travelling from Kathmandu to Gaur, and 24 people in the bus travelling from Birgunj to Kathmandu,” said police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki.
More could have boarded the buses on their routes, officials said.
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Elsewhere in the country, 17 people have died and three more people were injured due to landslides in different districts in the past 24 hours, home minister Mr Lamichhane added.
The deaths included 11 people killed when landslides washed away three houses in Kaski district, 93 miles west of the capital, police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki said.
At least 91 people have been killed since mid-June as torrential monsoon rainfall continues to trigger landslides and flooding across the country.
In a social media post on Friday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said he was deeply saddened by the incidents and has directed government agencies to take swift action.
