KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescue workers in Nepal recovered a total of 11 bodies from the river which two buses full of people were in by a landslide, officials said Monday.
Rescue workers found the bodies in several places along the riverbank as they searched for the missing buses and the approximately 50 people on board.
Government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal said seven bodies had been identified and relatives were being contacted. Three of the dead were Indians and the remaining four were Nepalese nationals.
He said four more bodies had been recovered from the river, but as they have not yet been identified it is unclear whether they were on the buses.
“We will continue the search for as long as necessary and we do not intend to give up. We will continue working until they are all found,” he said.
The buses were on a major highway that connects Nepal’s capital to southern parts of the country when they were swept away early Friday morning near Simaltal, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Kathmandu. Three people were thrown from the buses and were treated at a nearby hospital.
The first body was recovered on sunday about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from where the buses fell. Other bodies were recovered as far as the Indian border. Two of them were found in Tribeni, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the landslide site, officials said.
Relatives of the missing gathered at the river to gather information, while security services rescuers used magnets, diving gear and underwater sonar equipment in the search.
Nepal’s rivers are generally fast-flowing due to the mountainous terrain. Heavy monsoon rains in recent days have swollen the waterways and turned them a murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreck.
Weather conditions improved Saturday, allowing search teams to cover more ground in the hunt for the missing buses and passengers. Heavy equipment cleared much of the landslide from the highway, making it easier to reach the area as rescuers expanded their reach to the southern region from where the first body was found, Bhusal said.
The monsoon season brings heavy rainfall to Nepal from June to September, often causing landslides in the mountainous Himalayan country.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the government has imposed a ban on bus transport at night in areas where weather warnings are in effect.