Daijiworld Media Network - Kathmandu

Kathmandu, Feb 23: At least 18 people were killed and 26 others injured after a passenger bus veered off a mountain highway and plunged down a slope into the banks of the Trishuli River in Nepal early Monday, police said.

The bus was travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu when it drove off the Prithvi Highway shortly after midnight. The vehicle rolled down a steep mountainside and came to rest near Benighat, around 80 kilometres west of Kathmandu.

Rescue personnel reached the accident site soon after the crash and pulled the injured from the wreckage before shifting them to nearby hospitals for treatment. Authorities said an investigation has been launched to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.

Road accidents are common in the Himalayan nation, largely due to narrow and poorly maintained roads that wind through mountainous terrain.

The Trishuli river, where the bus landed, has witnessed similar tragedies in the past. In 2024, two buses carrying 65 passengers fell into the same river and were swept away, with most of those on board either killed or still missing. The wreckage of one of the buses was recovered only this year, buried deep under sand.