A handout photo made available by the Nepal Armed Police Force (APF) shows rescue workers from the Nepal Armed Police Force searching for the bodies of victims and injured people at the site of a passenger bus crash in Benighat, Dhading District, Nepal, 23 February 2026. At least 18 people were killed and 24 were injured in the accident, authorities said. EPA/ARMED POLICE FORCE HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES Only nine of the dead have been identified so far, they said, adding that the bus was carrying 44 people in all.
A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among the 25 injured when the bus headed to the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, from the tourist town of Pokhara fell 200 metres (650 feet) from the road at Behighat in Dhading district, 80 km (50 miles) west of Kathmandu, a police statement said.
The injured are being treated at hospitals in Kathmandu, it said.
Road accidents are common in mostly mountainous Nepal where the conditions of roads are poor. Hundreds die in road crashes in Nepal annually.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; editing by YP Rajesh)