DAILEKH: One person has been confirmed dead after a Force minibus plunged into the Karnali River along the Karnali Highway in Chamunda Bindrasaini Municipality-7 of Dailekh on Wednesday.
According to police, the Karnali Province-registered minibus (Ka. Pra. 02-001 Kha 1055), which was travelling from Surkhet to Kalikot, veered off the road at around 11:30 am and fell an estimated 600 to 700 meters into the river.
District Police Office Dailekh Information Officer Laxman Pachabhaiya said rescue teams initially pulled one person from the crash site in an unconscious condition. However, the exact number of passengers on board remains unknown, leaving the status of other occupants uncertain.
A joint rescue operation involving Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force, and personnel from the Upper Karnali Hydropower Project security base has been deployed to the accident site.
During the rescue operation, authorities recovered the body of a man trapped on a cliff approximately 400 meters below the road. Joint teams from Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force are working to bring the body up to the roadway.
According to Armed Police Force Deputy Spokesperson DSP Shailendra Thapa, officials have not yet been able to determine how many people were travelling in the vehicle. Search and rescue efforts for missing passengers are continuing.
Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident.
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