IAF Brings Back 25 Indian Pilgrims' Bodies After Nepal Bus Accident

Jalgaon (Maharashtra) [India], August 24: The Indian Air Force's C-130 J aircraft landed at Jalgaon Airport in Maharashtra, carrying the mortal remains of 25 Indian pilgrims who tragically died in a road accident in Nepal.

In a post on X, the Indian Air Force - Media Co-ordination Centre stated, "Responding swiftly to a call for crucial humanitarian support, the #IAF deployed a C-130J aircraft to airlift the mortal remains of 25 Indian citizens who tragically lost their lives in a road accident in Nepal."

The mortal remains were transported from Bharatpur (Nepal) to Jalgaon (Maharashtra). The IAF extended its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wished a swift recovery to those injured.

Earlier in the day, an Indian Air Force aircraft airlifted 25 bodies of Indian pilgrims killed in a road accident in western Nepal. The military aircraft flew into Bharatpur city in Chitwan district, near the Tanahun district, where an India-registered bus had crashed on Friday. A total of 27 people were killed in the bus accident, which had veered off the road into the river basin.

Indradev Yadav, Chief District Officer of Chitwan, said two bodies of the 27 killed in the accident were sent to their hometown, Gorakhpur, by road. "Out of 27 killed in the accident, two of the bodies were sent to Gorakhpur by road, to their hometown. They were the driver and the assistants of the bus. The remaining 25 bodies are carried by the Indian Air Force aircraft which flew in this late afternoon to Bharatpur Airport. The remaining 25 bodies are destined for Jalgaon district in Maharashtra and the aircraft is said to land in Mumbai this evening," Indradev Yadav said.

Autopsies of the bodies were performed at Bharatpur Hospital and handed over to the Indian authorities for transportation.

Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, and Maharashtra legislator, Sanjay Shubhakar, arrived in Nepal on Saturday morning to enquire about the health condition of the injured Indian nationals. Both officials returned on the same aircraft. Khadse met all the 16 injured undergoing treatment at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu and received updates. Khadse also met with Nepal's Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and took a briefing from the ministry officials about the rescue operation that took place on Friday.

"Met 16 Indian nationals who were injured in the road accident yesterday and currently undergoing treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (Kathmandu) along with Home Minister of Nepal Ramesh Lekhak," she wrote on X after the hospital visit.

Raksha Nikhil Khadse thanked the minister and the Nepal government for the prompt and timely assistance provided for the search and rescue operations as well as for the treatment of the injured. She appreciated the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for providing necessary assistance and coordination on the ground with Nepalese authorities.

At least 27 Indian nationals were killed and 16 others injured when a bus with an Indian registration number plunged into Marsyangdi River at Anbukhaireni Rural Municipality in Tanahun district on Friday. The bus was en route to Kathmandu from Pokhara when it skidded off the road at Ainapahara in ward 2 of the rural municipality and fell about 150 metres into the river at around 11:30 am (local time) on Friday. While 26 people died at the crash site, one more succumbed to injuries at Old Medical College in Chitwan, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Paudel of the District Traffic Police Office, Tanahun.