KATHMANDU: The task force investigating the disappearance of two buses and their passengers in the Trishuli River, following a landslide in Simaltal on the Narayangadh-Muglin road section of Chitwan, is scheduled to submit its report to Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak today. The Home Minister’s Secretariat announced that the findings will be presented at 1:30 pm.

The task team was established by Home Minister Lekhak and is headed by Joint Secretary Chabi Rizal. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and three security agency representatives are also on board. The incident on July 12 was the main focus of their inquiry.

That day, a landslide near Simaltal caused two busses, Bagmati Province 03-006 Kha 1516, carrying passengers from Birgunj to Kathmandu, and Bagmati Province 03-001 Kha 2459, carrying passengers from Kathmandu to Gaur, to be washed away by the Trishuli River. As of right now, 24 bodies have been found, while three of the 65 passengers have managed to escape by jumping out.

It's still unclear what happened to the 38 passengers who were on board and the two busses that went missing. More details about the incident and the current search and recovery operations should be revealed in the task force report.