Authorities in Nepal said on Monday that they have given up hope of finding survivors in the landslide that occurred last week and carried two passenger buses carrying 65 passengers into a river that had overflowed due to intense rain.
More than 72 hours after the collision, hundreds of security officers started searching for the buses and the 55 passengers who were still unaccounted for early on Monday.
86 kilometers (53 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu, in the Chitwan area, searchers have discovered seven dead bodies so far, including two on Monday.
“There is no possibility of discovering survivors. Our priority is recovering bodies,” Chitwan district senior police officer Bhesh Raj Rijal stated.
According to an official, family members who had assembled at the search site had given up hope of finding their loved ones still alive.
“They want us to locate the dead bodies, at the very least. A government officer in the district named Khimananda Bhusal described the situation as “gloomy.”
Over 100 people have died in Nepal as a result of floods and landslides brought on by the monsoon season’s heavy rainfall since mid-June.
The administration declared after the landslide that buses would not be allowed to travel at night in areas with bad weather forecasts.
