A passenger bus carrying 44 people plunged off a highway onto the banks of the Trishuli River in Nepal early Monday morning, killing 19 people and injuring 25 others in the country’s deadliest road accident in recent months.
The vehicle was traveling from the popular tourist city of Pokhara to the capital Kathmandu when it veered off the Prithvi Highway around 1:30 a.m. near Bhainsegaunda in Benighat Rorang Rural Municipality, Dhading district—approximately 50 miles west of Kathmandu. The bus tumbled roughly 200 metres (650 feet) down a steep slope before smashing onto the rocky riverbank below.
The bus had departed from Pokhara Tourist Bus Park at 7:00 p.m. Sunday carrying 34 passengers along with the driver and two staff members. Additional passengers boarded along the route, a common occurrence on highway services—bringing the total to 44 people, including 29 men and 15 women, at the time of the crash.
Rescue operations launched immediately after the crash involved personnel from the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, and Nepal Police, who worked through darkness and difficult terrain to pull survivors from the wreckage. A specialized diving team from the Armed Police Force’s Disaster Management Training School in Kurintar assisted in the challenging recovery effort. The rescue operation concluded by mid-morning.
Among the dead was 24-year-old British national Stewart Dominic Ethan, one of nine victims identified by authorities. The bus owner, Om Kumar Shrestha, was also aboard and died at the scene. A 40-year-old Chinese woman and a 32-year-old Indian man were also among the deceased. Other identified victims included Nepali nationals ranging in age from 30 to 63, hailing from districts including Pokhara, Syangja, Tanahun, and Palpa.
The injured include a 27-year-old woman from New Zealand who sustained minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital, as well as a 12-year-old Chinese national receiving treatment at Kathmandu’s National Trauma Centre for head injuries. Women from Japan and the Netherlands are also among the injured.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was supporting the family of the British man who died. “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Nepal and are in contact with the local authorities,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a five-member taskforce to investigate the crash, following a high-level meeting chaired by Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal. District authorities said the cause of the accident remains under investigation. “The cause of the accident has not yet been identified, as the bus was travelling in its own lane,” said Bijaya Raj Subedi, Chief District Officer of Dhading. Preliminary assessment indicates the bus became uncontrollable before plunging off the highway, with police examining whether overspeeding was a contributing factor.
Rescue operations faced significant challenges due to darkness, rugged terrain, and swift river flows at the remote crash site. Emergency responders worked through the night to recover bodies and transport the injured to local facilities in Malekhu and Dhadingbesi, with serious cases referred to hospitals in Kathmandu.
The Prithvi Highway, which links Nepal’s two largest cities, has seen repeated disasters in recent years. Sharp bends, narrow shoulders, and few guardrails make the route notoriously dangerous, particularly at night. Bus accidents remain common across Nepal, largely attributed to poorly maintained roads and vehicles.
Monday’s tragedy is the deadliest in a troubling spate of major road accidents that has claimed more than 40 lives across Nepal in just three weeks. Earlier this month, a wedding bus crash in Baitadi killed 13 people. Days later, a bus accident in Ramechhap claimed 12 more.
In July 2024, two buses carrying more than 60 passengers were swept into the same Trishuli River by a massive landslide along the Narayanghat-Mugling road section. Most passengers were killed or remain missing. The wreckage of one bus—the Ganapati Deluxe—was discovered in January 2026, buried in riverbed sand nearly 18 months after the disaster. In December 2022, 12 wedding guests died when an overcapacity minibus crashed off a mountain road near Chedagad village in Karnali province, rolling approximately 650 feet down the slope.
Nepal recorded 7,669 road accidents during the fiscal year 2024-25, resulting in 190 deaths. Authorities classified 278 of these as serious accidents. A World Bank study found that the economic cost of road traffic injuries in Nepal has tripled since 2007 and now represents approximately 1.5 percent of the country’s gross national product. More than 70 percent of road fatality victims are vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists.
The increase in accidents coincides with a growing number of vehicles on Nepal’s roads, many of which traverse treacherous mountain terrain with sharp curves, steep drops, and minimal safety barriers. The country’s road infrastructure struggles to keep pace with increasing traffic volumes, particularly on popular tourist routes connecting major cities and trekking destinations.
Family members and local residents gathered near the crash site as authorities transported recovered bodies to hospitals for medical confirmation. The investigation continues as officials work to determine exactly what caused the bus to lose control on what should have been a routine overnight journey between two of Nepal’s most frequented destinations.