On Sunday, a bus carrying malami from Butwal met with an accident at Palpa. The news spread like wildfire.
The bus (Lu 1 Kha 7279) carrying Malami from Ridi of Gulmi for the funeral of the deceased had met with an accident at Ribdikot Gaonpalika 2 Laguwa of Palpa.
As soon as the bus carrying Malami met with an accident, 17 Raniganj residents of Butwal sub-metropolis became distraught.
Thirty-five people had gone to Malami to Gulmi Ridi carrying the body of Bir Bahadur BK, a local from Raniganj. Most of the Malamis were from Raniganj and Buddhanagar.
The locals were silent when they reached thereafter that the bus carrying the body from Raniganj had met with an accident.
A crowd of people was seen outside a one-storey house painted blue in the inclusive toll in Raniganj. There was a white canopy hanging outside the house. The clothes were washed and dried in front of the house. There was a lot of straw on the bed.
Seeing that, it was easy to recognize that the house of the deceased who had taken the body for cremation was here.
BK, 68, of Samavesi Tol in Raniganj, who had been ill since last April, died on Saturday evening.
After the death of Vic, who was paralyzed due to high blood pressure, his family advised him to take his body to Gulmi's Redi for cremation.
Bir Bahadur, who fell to Butwal a few years ago from Mareng, Malarani Gaonpalika-2 of Arghakhanchi, also wanted his funeral to be held at Redi after his death.
Not only Bir Bahadur, but most of the old people who fell in the vicinity of Butwal from Gulmi Arghakhanchi have a tradition of taking reeds for burial after death.
Her family and neighbors were ready to take her away.
One of the six brothers and sons of the deceased Bir Bahadur was a foreigner. The bus carrying 35 people, including five sons, had left Butwal at 7 in the morning for Redi.
But before reaching Redi, the bus crashed at Ribdikot 2 Laghuwa in Palpa. Some relatives went in a private vehicle for Malami and escaped the accident.
The deceased have been identified as Pashupati Bik, 30, son of Bir Bahadur and seven others died on the spot.
The deceased have been identified as Shankar VK, 25, of Malarani Gaonpalika-2, Arghakhanchi, Mohan Kunwar, 36, of the same place, Bhojendra VK, 28, and Arjun VK, 33, of Lumbini. Khum Bahadur Rana, 40, of Butwal Sub-Metropolis-17 and Vijay Thapa Chhetri, 32, of Butwal Sub-Metropolis-11.
Thamman Pachabhaiya, 31, of Raniganj, who managed to save his life in the accident, said that the accident took place when the driver could not change gears on the slippery and steep road.
Bir Bahadur's neighbor Pachabhaiya says that he was also in the same bus and after the bus accident he grabbed the front seat and nothing happened.
According to Nahakul Shahi Thakuri, a ward member of Butwal-11, who was injured in the accident, some of them fell asleep and fell out of the window of the bus.
According to Thakuri, the bus overturned 200 meters below the road and fell down. They are safe to hold the seat tightly inside the bus.
The bodies of three persons trapped by the bus were recovered by a dozer and an excavator, police said.
The driver who jumped out of the bus after the accident has saved his life. Police have stated that they have started an investigation into the cause of the accident.
Police suspect that the bus may have slipped due to the cold wave and dampness along the curb.
Ranigunj in Butwal and Mareng in Arghakhanchi are now in mourning after seven people, including their son, who had gone to their father's funeral, died at the same place.
Most of the dead and injured are family members and close relatives.
All the injured are undergoing treatment at Lumbini Medical College, Prabhas and United Mission Hospital, Palpa.
Ward member Thakuri, who reached the hospital to inquire about the condition of the dead and injured, said that he was shocked by the sight of seven bodies being removed from the hospital.
"It simply came to our notice then that the person who was released from the hospital in the morning was heartbroken. The condition of some of the injured is critical," he told Sethopati.
According to Thakuri, the body of Mohan Kunwar, who died in the accident, has been taken to Redi for cremation.
According to Thakuri, it has not been decided where the bodies of the six victims and the bodies of Bir Bahadur will be taken for cremation.
He informed that it has not been decided where to take the body as it is not allowed to bring back the body taken out of the house for cremation according to Hindu religious practice. "The relatives of the deceased were not in favor of re-taking Reedy after he lost seven people in the accident while walking to Reedy, but were advising him not to bring back his father's body," he said.