At least nine persons, including two women, were killed and 15 others injured today when an overcrowded passenger van skidded off the mountainous road and plunged into a ravine in eastern Nepal, in the latest deadly mishap to hit the country.
The accident occurred at Okhaldhunga district after the ill-fated van skidded off the road and fell some 200 metres down at Siddhicharan town.
"The van was reserved for ferrying a patient to hospital," Deputy Superintendent of Police said.
"On the way to hospital many people boarded the jeep with the capacity of five people," he said.
Two women and six men had died on the spot while a woman breathed her last while undergoing treatment at a hospital, Himalayan Times reported.
Five persons including three children are in a critical condition.
Poor maintenance of roads and vehicles besides reckless driving contribute to many accidents in the mountainous country.
At least 14 persons, including three foreigners, two of them Israeli women tourists, were killed and 50 others injured on Friday when an over-crowded bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge in central Nepal.
About 30 people were killed and 40 others injured on October 6 when a crowded passenger bus veered off a hilly road and plunged into a gorge in western Nepal.
