Sabina’s Pathibhara trip turns tragic
All four died on the spot when the Bolero jeep they were traveling in caught fire after coming into contact with a live electric wire.
KATHMANDU: A pilgrimage journey to the revered Pathibhara Temple turned into a devastating incident after a jeep caught fire from a fallen high-voltage wire, killing four people, including a teenager and two senior citizens, in Taplejung on Monday morning.
The deceased have been identified as 16-year-old Aadhya Acharya, her grandfather 70-year-old Binod Paudel, grandmother 69-year-old Sarita Paudel, and the jeep driver 42-year-old Durga Bhattarai.
All four died on the spot when the Bolero jeep they were traveling in caught fire after coming into contact with a live electric wire.
The victims were part of a family group from Lalitpur Metropolitan City-10. Sabina Paudel, 45, had arrived in Taplejung on Sunday evening with her 10-year-old son Bhavimaya Acharya, daughter Aadhya, and her parents from Bhadrapur Municipality-15, Jhapa.
They stayed at Hotel Paris in Phungling.
Sabina had requested hotel operator Sabin Baniya to arrange a taxi for the pilgrimage to Pathibhara Temple.
Baniya, who is also a taxi operator, contacted local driver Durga Bhattarai of Furumbu, Phungling Municipality-10.
The plan was to leave early Monday morning, offer prayers at the temple, and return by the afternoon.
Bhattarai reached with the vehicle around 3 a.m., and the family departed by 3:30 a.m.
As they were passing through a rough patch of road at a place known as Sewaro Chowk, the jeep hit a sagging electric wire that had fallen unnoticed across the road.
The vehicle instantly caught fire due to the electric current.
Eyewitness accounts say the fire spread so rapidly that the passengers could not escape.
Driver Bhattarai, Aadhya, and Sabina’s parents perished in the vehicle. Sabina managed to jump out, while her son Bhavimaya escaped with minor injuries.
Traveling in a separate vehicle behind them was a group led by Janardan Bhandari from Bharatpur Municipality-4, Chitwan.
Bhavimaya, despite his injuries, stood on the road signaling for help. The jeep was still burning when Bhandari and his group arrived.
He saw Sabina lying unconscious about 1.5 meters from the burning vehicle and quickly pulled her to safety. Bhandari said there was no way to rescue the other four inside the vehicle due to the intense flames.
There were no ambulances or emergency services nearby.
Bhandari immediately turned his vehicle around and rushed Sabina and her son back toward Phungling. Near Suketar, they met an ambulance headed toward the accident site. The injured were transferred to the ambulance and taken to Taplejung District Hospital.
Sabina was later airlifted to Kathmandu by helicopter for further treatment. Her husband, a doctor at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu, arranged the emergency evacuation.
Suresh Prasad Chaudhary, chief of the Taplejung distribution center of the Nepal Electricity Authority, claimed that the pin supporting the wire had likely broken due to lightning and rainfall the previous night. “It appears lightning struck and damaged the pin,” he said. “We were unaware of the fallen wire until the incident occurred in the morning.”
However, locals and observers have blamed the Electricity Authority for negligence. Many electric poles in the area are tilted and wires sag dangerously close to the road, creating what they call “electric traps.” The lack of routine inspection and maintenance has left the region vulnerable to such fatal accidents.
