Bride Pushpa Chaudhary, 22, Nirmala Chaudhary, also 22, Karishma Chaudhary, 16, and Sushma Chaudhary, 13, were killed when the trolley got detached as the drunk driver tried to race with passenger buses plying on the East-West Highway, according to Bijay Chaudhary who was injured in the accident. [break]
The groom, Ashok Chaudhary, was traveling in a separate bus while the bride was being escorted to the groom´s house in Bauniya of Kailali by her relatives in the tractor as per the Tharu tradition that requires the bride and groom to travel separately.
Bride Pushpa, and her nieces Sushma and Karishma were crushed by the trolley and died on the spot while Nirmala, the bride´s bosom pal, breathed her last at Kohalpur Medical College Saturday afternoon.
The tractor (Bhe 1 Ta 3848) carrying around 50 persons from Thakurdwara-2, Gobrala, Bardiya was around eight kilometers behind the bus with the groom when the accident occurred.
The bride´s father Gannu Tharu is unconscious after losing his newly-wed daughter and two granddaughters -- children of eldest son Lal Bahadur -- in the accident. Traffic Police Office, Kohalpur said six of the 26 injured are in critical condition.
Tractor driver Ashok Chaudhary is absconding after the accident while the police have taken the tractor under control. Chief of District Traffic Police, Bardiya Sub-inspector Damodar Bhatta blamed the driver´s carelessness for the accident. “The road is in good condition and the site of accident also shows the driver at fault,” Bhatta explained.
Mid-Western Regional Traffic Police Office, Kohalpur said vehicles carrying wedding processions, picnic revelers, and participants of political mass meetings have been more prone to accidents.
“Those vehicles are invariably overcrowded and don´t follow traffic rules,” Inspector Kedar Raj Panta said. Four persons were killed in Lamahi of Dang two days ago when a bus returning with the bride met with an accident.
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