KARNALI: A passenger-ferrying bus that plunged into the Karnali River after an accident on the Dailekh road section along the Karnali Highway has not yet found.

The passenger vehicle (KA 02-001 K 1055) carrying an estimated 14 people had met with an accident at 11:30 am at Sangeda in Chamunda Bindrasaini Municipality–7, Dailekh today.

A team comprising six divers from Armed Police Force, Nepal, No. 6 Maheswori Battalion Headquarters, Surkhet, has been searching for the vehicle for nearly four hours.

The water level has increased and the rain-triggered flooding has toughened the search work, informed Jayaraj Sapkota, Deputy Inspector General of Police and the head of the Karnali Province Police Office, Surkhet.

He had reached the site with a squad of around 50 security personnel. “Since it was night, search and rescue could not be carried out. We will resume the search and rescue operations from Friday morning,” he said.

According to DSP at Dailekh Police, Srawan BK, personnel from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force Nepal Company, Dailekh, and Upper Karnali Hydropower Project security base were jointly deployed with rescue equipment for search and rescue operations.