The Indian Air Force’s C-130 J aircraft landed at Jalgaon Airport in Maharashtra on Saturday, carrying the mortal remains of 25 Indian pilgrims who perished in a tragic road accident in Nepal.
In a statement on X, the Indian Air Force – Media Co-ordination Centre reported, “Responding swiftly to a call for crucial humanitarian support, the #IAF deployed a C-130J aircraft to airlift the mortal remains of 25 Indian citizens who tragically lost their lives in a road accident in Nepal.”
The remains were transported from Bharatpur in Nepal to Jalgaon, Maharashtra. The #IAF extended its deepest condolences to the grieving families and wished a swift recovery for those injured, the statement added.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force aircraft completed the airlift of 25 bodies from Bharatpur city in Chitwan district, near where an India-registered bus had crashed on Friday. The accident occurred when the bus veered off the road and fell into a river basin.
A total of 27 people lost their lives in the crash. Indradev Yadav, Chief District Officer of Chitwan, confirmed that two of the deceased were sent to their hometown of Gorakhpur by road. “The remaining 25 bodies were transported by the IAF aircraft that landed in Bharatpur Airport late this afternoon. They are now headed to Jalgaon district in Maharashtra,” Yadav told ANI.
Autopsies were conducted at Bharatpur Hospital before the bodies were handed over to Indian authorities for transportation. Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Nikhil Khadse, and Maharashtra legislator, Sanjay Shubhakar, traveled to Nepal to inquire about the injured. They returned on the same aircraft.
Khadse met the 16 injured individuals receiving treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu and also engaged with Nepal’s Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak to review the rescue operations. She expressed gratitude to the Nepalese government and the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for their prompt support and coordination.
The bus, en route to Kathmandu from Pokhara, skidded off the road at Ainapahara in ward 2 of Anbukhaireni Rural Municipality and plunged about 150 meters into the Marsyangdi River around 11:30 am local time on Friday. Of the 27 fatalities, 26 occurred at the crash site, while one succumbed to injuries at Old Medical College in Chitwan, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Santosh Paudel of the District Traffic Police Office, Tanahun.
(With ANI Inputs)
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