Dhading, June 19

Of the two persons, who went missing after landslide buried them while they were constructing the road with an excavator at Rubivalley Rural Municipality in Dhading last night, the body of one was recovered this evening.

The rural municipality is the most isolated area of the district.

It lies in the northern part of the district.

Excavator driver Raju Parajuli, 23, of Sindhupalchowk and his helper Jojo Tamang, 20, of Rubivalley Rural Municipality, Dhading had gone missing since last evening.

Police said Parajuli's body was recovered this evening.

Chairman of the rural municipality Prashant Tamang said the incident occurred when the excavator driver and his helper were constructing the Dhadingbenshi-Sangkosh-Tipling-Somdang road section yesterday at 6:00pm. He said massive landslide suddenly fell upon them while they were constructing the road. Tamang added that the rescue team was deployed just after the incident took place. He said it was very difficult to carry out the rescue operation due to continuous rainfall following the landslides in the area. Tamang said communication was also disrupted.

SP Mahendra Khadka of Dhading District Police Office said his office had been taking information about the incident via internal communication as mobile communication was disconnected owing to continuous rainfall and landslides.

A joint police team deployed from Sertung Police Post and Area Police Office, Darkha reached the incident site and gathered information.

The incident site does not have road connection. Road construction is under way at Dhadingbensi, Sangkosh, Tipling, Somdang. Vehicular movement had started after construction of a bridge at Dundure along the road section.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 20, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.