CHITWAN, Jan 13: The bus that was swept into the Trishuli River by landslide debris at Simaltal in Chitwan around one and a half years ago has been found and confirmed to be the Ganapati Deluxe bus.
The bus was located in the Trishuli River at Simaltal, Bharatpur Metropolitan City–29, after parts of it became visible on Sunday morning. Police carried out excavation work for three days following the sighting. Chitwan Chief District Officer Ganesh Aryal confirmed that the recovered vehicle is the same Ganapati Deluxe bus involved in the Simaltal accident 18 months ago.
According to Aryal, excavation revealed a section of the bus bearing the inscription “Ganapati Deluxe.” He said that excavation work is still ongoing at the site.
Simaltal Bus Accident: Dead bodies of missing Ganapati Deluxe d...
On July 12, 2024, two buses were swept into the Trishuli River after being buried by a landslide along with mud. The buses were traveling in opposite directions: an Angel Deluxe bus (Bagmati Province 03-006 Kha 1516) heading from Birgunj to Kathmandu, and a Ganapati Deluxe bus (Bagmati Province 03-011 Kha 2495) traveling from Kathmandu to Gaur.
A total of 65 passengers were on board the two buses. Only three passengers survived, while the remaining 62 passengers went missing along with the buses in the river. Following the accident, 24 bodies were recovered from the Narayani River. Of those, the identities of 19 passengers were confirmed, while five bodies could not be identified. Forty-three passengers remain missing to this day.
The government has provided relief to the families of the missing, treating them as deceased. The highest number of missing passengers were from Rautahat district (27 people). Others included 10 from India, 10 from Parsa, 6 from Bara, 4 from Sarlahi, 2 from Chitwan, and one each from Bhaktapur and Sindhupalchok, according to official records.
After the accident, a 12-member team from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Nepal to assist with search operations. Despite conducting a week-long search using advanced technology, the team was unable to locate the buses and eventually returned. At the time, the Indian team had identified two suspected locations.
The search operation employed modern equipment such as water drones (sonar cameras), drone cameras, rafting boats, motorboats, magnets, and metal hooks. During the search, a 19-kilogram magnet brought by the NDRF team was also lost in the Trishuli River.
Authorities had marked a three-kilometer stretch from Simaltal to Gaighat as a high-suspicion zone. Since the accident, divers from the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force have been continuously conducting search operations for the missing passengers and the buses.
