- A passenger jeep plunged into the Sunkoshi River in Sindhuli, killing three women and leaving three others missing during a festive homecoming journey.
- Rescuers saved four people, while specialist divers search the river for those missing after the vehicle fell 200 metres down a steep cliff.
- Police suspect driver fatigue caused the overnight crash as travelers return to ancestral villages for Dashain celebrations along treacherous mountain highways.
Sindhuli, Nepal: A festive homecoming turned into tragedy early Sunday morning when a packed passenger jeep veered off the Mid-Hill Highway and plunged into the swollen Sunkoshi River, leaving three young women dead and three other passengers missing in Sindhuli district.
The Tata Sumo (Ko 1 Ja 2976), carrying passengers from Kathmandu home to Khotang for Dashain, tumbled nearly 200 metres down a steep cliff at Nagthan in Fikkal Rural Municipality–6 at around 2:30 am.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of three young women from the wreckage site. They have been identified as Yupana Rai, 21, and Kabya Rai, 18, both of Laphyang in Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality–5, and 16-year-old Swastika Bishwakarma of Indrenipokhari, Khotehang Rural Municipality–6. Their bodies were brought to Sindhuli Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
Four people survived the horrific fall, including the driver, 29-year-old Ashish Bista of Okhaldhunga. The other survivors were identified as Samjhana Rai, 38, of Bamrang, Diktel; her 12-year-old daughter, Siwani Rai; and 13-year-old Ankit Bishwakarma of Diktel–1.
Local police and residents rushed the injured across the river to Janasewa Health Centre in Ghurmi for emergency treatment before transferring them to Sindhuli District Hospital. Police described Samjhana’s condition as critical.
Three passengers remain unaccounted for in the swift currents of the Sunkoshi. A search-and-rescue operation was launched at daybreak, with security personnel from the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force (APF) scouring the riverbanks. Specialist divers from the APF Disaster Management Training School in Kurintar have also been deployed to dive into the deeper stretches of the river.
Establishing the exact headcount and identities of those missing has proven difficult, officers said, because the vehicle operator failed to maintain an accurate passenger manifest before departing Kathmandu—a common issue during peak festival travel Rush.
While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, police suspect driver fatigue during the overnight mountain run may have played a role.
The tragedy comes during Dashain, when thousands of workers and students travel overnight on Nepal's treacherous highway network to reach their ancestral villages in time for the celebrations.
