Palungtar (gorkha), Aug. 31 -- When the sacred festival of Janai Purnima approached, the residents of Majhtar in ward 5 of Palungtar Municipality in Gorkha decided to embark on a holy pilgrimage to Gosainkunda in Rasuwa. Early on Wednesday morning, 36 people boarded a chartered bus, their hearts filled with devotion. Hours later, as the vehicle reached Bhainse in Nuwakot, a sudden, violent flood on the Bhotekoshi river swept the vehicle away.

Five days after the disaster, the bus with the registration number Ga 2 Kha 1152 remains missing. Authorities have recovered two bodies, six passengers survived by jumping off the moving vehicle, and 28 remain missing. Among the survivors are Badri Prasad Devkota and his cousin Tularam Devkota, who ...