IAF chopper brings 25 bodies of Nepal bus crash victims to Jalgaon

Nashik/Pune: Former Maharashtra cabinet minister Eknath Khadse's close relatives were among the 25 people from Varangaon in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district killed in Friday's bus accident in Nepal. Twenty-five pilgrims from Maharashtra and two people from Uttar Pradesh, who were in Nepal for a 10-day tour, were killed and 16 others injured after their bus veered off the highway and fell into the fast-flowing Marsyangdi river at Abu Khaireni in Tanahu district in central Nepal on Friday.A special Indian Air Force (IAF) plane with bodies of the 25 pilgrims killed in the bus accident left for Jalgaon on Saturday after completing all formalities. The bodies of two deceased would reach Maharajgunj in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening.IAF public relations officer from New Delhi Wing Commander Jaideep told TOI in Pune, "After getting requisitions from the Maharashtra govt, we got the clearances from the ministry of defence and external affairs ministry. The aircraft took off at 2:48pm and landed at Bharatpur in Nepal at 4:04pm on Saturday. The aircraft started its return journey at 4:48pm. The mortal remains of the victims reached Jalgaon airport at 8pm." Three state ministers from Jalgaon — Gulabrao Patil, Girish Mahajan and Anil Patil — and senior authorities of the Jalgaon district administration, including the collector, Ayush Prasad, were present at the airport to receive the bodies. Later, the bodies were handed over to the bereaved families.On Friday afternoon, Shubham Jawale (35) received a call from Eknath Khadse. Shubham thought it was a routine call from his uncle. But Khadse's words left him shattered as the senior politician from Maharashtra broke the news of the death of five members of Shubham's family in the accident. Shubham's father Sudhakar Jawale (60), mother Rohini (51), his nephew Sagar and two aunts, Bharti and Nilima, were among the deceased. Shubham was with Khadse on Saturday, inconsolable and unsure of how to deal with the tragedy. "He was shocked and speechless for a few minutes when I informed him about the accident. Then, he broke down. It was tough to console him," Khadse said.Shubham's mother, Rohini Jawale, was the former president of the Varangaon municipal council. On Thursday, as the news broke that an Indian tourist bus had fallen into a river in Nepal broke out, Union minister Raksha Khadse came to know that the passengers were from Jalgaon and some of them were her relatives. She called up Eknath Khadse, her father-in-law, from Delhi to inform him about the development. Eknath Khadse, too, thought that it was a daily call that the MP makes back home when she is in New Delhi. "It was not. My voice choked as she broke the news that people from Varangaon town had died in a bus accident. I was asked to inform Shubham. This is one call that I did not wake to make," Khadse told TOI, adding that Shubham and his wife are completely shattered.Raksha and Bhusawal MLA Sanjay Savkare are in Kathmundu to coordinate with the Nepal govt authorities for transportation of the bodies and treatment of the injured. "The total number of dead from Bhusawal is 25. Of the 16 injured, the condition of three is still critical. Some of the injured will need prolonged stay at the hospital before they recover," Savkare told TOI.According to the MLA, as many as 110 pilgrims, mostly from Bhusawal and its adjoining areas, were travelling in three sleeper coaches from UP to Kathmandu.The pilgrims left by train from Bhusawal on Aug 16 and had gone to Kashi, Ayodhya and few other places in UP before starting the final leg of their trip to Nepal in three buses."The bus that fell into the river was in the middle of the three-vehicle cavalcade. The bus ahead of the ill-fated one had moved further ahead and the last bus was far behind. The feedback that I got from Nepal Army authorities was that the road was wet as it had rained. There is apprehension that the bus was at considerable speed and while negotiating a blind curve, the driver could have lost control," added Savkare.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund for the next of kin of each deceased in the accident in Tanahun district, Nepal. The injured would be given Rs 50,000, it was announced by the PMO on X.Earlier in the day, the post-mortem of all the 27 Indians was carried out at the Bharatpur Hospital in the Chitwan district of the Bagmati province, home ministry spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said."Thanked Hon'ble HM and Govt of Nepal for the prompt and timely assistance provided for the search and rescue operations as also for the treatment of the injured," Raksha said in a post on X after the hospital visit. She also expressed appreciation for the Indian embassy in Nepal for providing "necessary assistance and coordination on the ground with Nepalese authorities."Meanwhile, calling the bus accident "tragic," Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli condoled the deaths in a post on X: "Deeply saddened by the tragic bus accident in Abu Khaireni, Tanahun, which claimed the lives of 27 Indian citizens travelling from Pokhara to Kathmandu. My heartfelt tributes to the victims and condolences to their families, including Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji."(With agency inputs)