63 missing after Nepal landslide sweeps two buses into river

NEPAL: Nepal authorities on Friday evening temporarily halted the search for at least 63 people missing after a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains swept two buses off a highway and plunged them into a river.

Dozens of rescuers had been combing the site for survivors along a remote stretch of road in the central district of Chitwan before sunset forced them to abandon their efforts.

“It is dark now and it is not possible to continue the operation today,” Kumar Neupane, spokesman for Nepal´s Armed Police Force, told AFP. “The search will resume tomorrow morning.”

District official Khimananda Bhusal told AFP that the buses were carrying at least 66 people between them, but three passengers had been able to escape as they crashed into the Trishuli river.

“We are not sure of the total number because the buses could have picked up others on the road,” he said. “The river has swollen and no one else has been found yet.”

Bhusal said that the survivors were out of danger and one had been discharged from the hospital.