HETAUDA: An engineer and a vehicle driver lost their lives in a pickup jeep accident last night on an inner road at Baidmar in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality-8 of Makwanpur district.

The vehicle was heading towards Ipa from Mandu Hydropower in Makwanpur—located about 35 kilometers south of Dakshinkali, Kathmandu—when the accident occurred.

The deceased have been identified as engineer Surya Yadav, who was working on the Nijgadh–Kathmandu Fast Track project, and driver Bodhraj Budhathoki.

According to Madhav Prasad Kafle, spokesperson and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office Makwanpur, the jeep lost control and plunged about 100 feet down from the road.

The accident claimed the lives of Yadav, a resident of Pacharauta Municipality-7 in Bara district, and Budhathoki, a resident of Kamalamai Municipality-9 in Sindhuli district.

Police reported that as soon as news of the jeep accident was received, a joint team of the Nepali Army and Nepal Police deployed from the Nijgadh–Kathmandu Fast Track base camp rescued them from the site.

They were rushed to Hetauda Hospital for treatment, where doctors unfortunately declared both of them dead upon arrival.