By NNN-PTI
Kathmandu : At least seven persons were killed and many reportedly swept away after an overloaded suspension bridge over the Bheri River in Nepal’s Surkhet district collapsed Tuesday.
Nearly 300 people were crossing the suspension bridge connecting Daha-chaur and Medhapura VDCs in Surkhet district when it collapsed in the afternoon, the district police office quoted eye-witnesses as saying.
The Bheri Zonal police informed that seven people were killed in the incident. However, only five bodies have been recovered so far, the police said.
The people were on their way to a major religious fair at Subha-ghat area, about 380 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu, police officials told the Kantipur Online. Around two hundred people reportedly managed to swim to safety so far.
Nepal’s Home Ministry has confirmed that five people have been killed and stated that rescue teams were on their way. It said a rescue helicopter has arrived at the site.
Soldiers from Chhinchu and Surkhet barracks of the Nepal Army rushed to the site, head of the mid-western division of the army, Ananta Bahadur Thebe, told the local media.