Two people died and three others were missing after a tipper, carrying people who returned from India to a quarantine facility in Nepal, plunged into a river in Kalikot district when its driver exited the moving vehicle after an altercation with the passengers on Wednesday, according to media reports.
The district authorities have been able to establish contact with 27 missing people on board the vehicle. Four among them are critically injured and have been shifted to a hospital, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The tipper was taking returnees from India to a quarantine facility in Raskot municipality in the district, the report said.
Karnali Province Police Spokesperson Rajib Bahadur Basnet said the driver Ranganath Dhamala, exited the moving vehicle after a heated argument with the passengers who were complaining of overloading the vehicle.
Following the altercation, the tipper swerved off the road and plunged into the Karnali River in Lalighat at 10:40am today, said Basnet, adding that the driver has been arrested.
According to The Himalayan Times, a team of police has been deployed to the site for search and rescue operations. Some of the passengers were rescued from the river by the local people, it said.
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