Eleven bodies found in Nepal after buses swept away

At least 50 people were missing after a landslide hit two passenger buses. Photo / Getty Images

Rescuers in Nepal have recovered a total of 11 bodies after two buses full of people were swept into a river by a landslide, officials say.

Rescuers found the bodies in different spots along the riverbanks as they searched for the missing buses. Around 50 people were on board.

Government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal said seven bodies were identified and relatives contacted. Three of the dead are Indians and the remaining four are Nepali nationals.

Bhusal said four more bodies were also recovered from the river, but because they have not been identified, it was unclear if they had been on the buses.

“We will continue the search as long as it is needed and have no plans to give up. We will work until all of them are found,” he said.

The buses were on the key road connecting Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when they were swept away on Friday near Simaltal, about 120km west of Kathmandu.

Three people were ejected from the buses and are being treated in a nearby hospital.

The first body was recovered Sunday some 50km from where the buses fell. Other bodies were recovered from as far as the border with India.

Two of them were found in Tribeni, more than 96km from the landslide site, officials said.

Relatives of those missing gathered on the river seeking information as rescuers from the security forces used magnets, scuba diving equipment and underwater sonar imaging devices for the search.

Nepal’s rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon downpours in the past few days have swollen the waterways and turned them murky, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.

Monsoon season brings heavy rains to Nepal from June to September, often triggering landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.

The government imposed a ban on passenger buses travelling at night in the areas where weather warnings are posted, according to the home ministry.