Kathmandu: At least five people were killed when a school bus plunged off the road in Nepal’s western city of Pokhara early Friday morning, a senior police officer said.
The bus belonging to Kalika English Boarding School skidded off the road at Okhleko Bhir in Ward No. 28 of Pokhara Metropolitan City, Kaski district, at around 6:20 a.m., according to Nepali authorities.
“At least five people have been confirmed dead,” Superintendent of Police Naveen Karki, chief of the District Police Office, Kaski, told IANS. “We have learned that there were 17 students, one other passenger and a driver on the bus when the accident occurred.”
Police said the cause of the accident was not immediately known.
Kaski Chief District Officer Kuman Singh Gurung said the bus was carrying mostly Grade 10 students who were travelling to attend tuition classes when the accident occurred.
Nepal has witnessed a rise in road accidents in recent years, alongside an increase in the number of vehicles on its roads. A decade ago, the Nepal Traffic Police reported 4,999 road accidents.
In fiscal year 2024-25, the country recorded 7,669 road accidents and 1,900 deaths, according to official data.
Of the total accidents, 278 were classified as serious. Beyond the significant human toll, road safety issues also have a major economic impact.
A World Bank study in Nepal found that the economic cost of road traffic injuries had tripled since 2007, reaching 1.5 percent of the country’s gross national product. Road crashes also have a devastating and disproportionate impact on poor people.
More than 70 percent of all road fatalities in Nepal involve vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, the World Bank said. Considering the growing number of road accidents, the Nepali government has introduced the Road Safety Bill at the House of Representatives which aims to improve coordination among agencies involved in road safety, prevent and reduce road accidents, strengthen monitoring and evaluation, and reduce the human and economic losses caused by accidents.
The bill includes provisions on institutional arrangements for road safety, provincial and local road safety coordination committees, safe road infrastructure, safer vehicles and transport services, speed regulation, road-user safety and awareness, accident rescue and treatment, insurance, and compensation.
(IANS)
