'Dozens die' in Nepal bus blast

[Talon]

'Dozens die' in Nepal bus blast

At least 36 people have been killed after a packed passenger bus ran over a suspected rebel landmine in southern Nepal, the army says.

Another 72 were hurt, many seriously, in the blast in Chitwan district. State radio put the number killed at over 50.

The vehicle and many of those crammed inside and on top were blown to pieces.

Correspondents say it is likely to be the single bloodiest incident involving civilians since the Maoist rebels began their fight for a republic in 1996.

There has been no word yet from the rebels, who have carried out landmine attacks in the past against security targets.

'Littered with blood'

The bus, travelling from the village of Madi to nearby Narayangadh, was packed with villagers going to market or to work when it hit the landmine hidden under a bridge over the Bandarmudhe river.

Authorities say most of those killed died on the spot.

"The place is littered with blood... Many women and children have been killed," an army officer told Reuters news agency from the area.

The scene of the disaster is very close to the country's most famous national park, about 180km (110 miles) from the capital, Kathmandu.

Those injured have been moved to the district capital or to Kathmandu by ambulance and helicopter.

"Our bus was thrown in the air. The bus was ripped into pieces and many people were killed," one survivor, Khum Bahadur Gurung, 62, told the Associated Press from hospital.

Reports said local hospitals were struggling to cope with the numbers needing treatment and lacked doctors to perform surgery.

An army spokesman in the capital told the BBC that the type of explosive device showed the incident was definitely the work of what he called Maoist terrorists.

He said he did not know why the Maoists would target civilians in this way.

'Legitimate targets'

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says the rebels have tended to avoid indiscriminate attacks on civilians, instead ruthlessly targeting those they decide are their enemies.

However, they have in the past said that they regard buses carrying military personnel as legitimate targets, even in cases where most of the passengers are civilians. There was such an attack last year.

Unconfirmed reports say three of the victims in Chitwan were security personnel who were on leave. It is also possible that the mine was intended for another target.

Our correspondent says if this is the work of the Maoists, it will do no good at all to their attempts to woo Nepal's political parties, which shun violence.

About 12,000 people, many of them civilians, have died in Nepal's conflict, according to the military's figures.

Human rights groups accuse both rebels and the security forces of abuses.

Violence has escalated since King Gyanendra seized direct power in February, saying his government had not done enough to end the insurgency.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/worl...sia/4612633.stm