Mumbai, Aug 24: The toll in the tragic bus accident in Tanahun district of Nepal has now risen to 41.

Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan confirmed the casualties during a press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.

The bus carrying mostly Indian tourists hailing from Maharashtra plunged into a gorge of the Marsyangdi river in Ambukhereni area of Tanahun district of Nepal on Friday.

At the press conference, Mahajan said that the state government was maintaining ongoing communication with both the Nepal administration and the Nepal Embassy in Delhi to coordinate relief efforts.

"41 people have lost their lives in Nepal after falling into the river. We’ve been in touch with the Embassy in Delhi, and the Nepal Army has transported 12 individuals to the hospital," Minister Mahajan stated.

The bus with passengers mostly from Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, was plying from the mountainous tourist resort of Pokhara to the Nepal capital Kathmandu when it fell 150-feet into a river valley.

Maharashtra State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) Director Lahu Mali said that the bodies of the victims and the injured persons will enter India from Maharajganj district of the Uttar Pradesh-Nepal border on Saturday afternoon.

From there they will be taken to Gorakhpur Airport by road, a distance of around 4 hours, and arrangements are being made for the onward journey to Nashik Airport, and then by road to Jalgaon.

Since it is not possible to transport so many bodies and injured persons in a commercial flight, the Maharashtra government has written to the Indian Air Force (IAF) to arrange for a special flight.

The special flight is likely to fly from Gorakhpur to Nashik – the nearest airport to Jalgaon – and the state government will bear all the expenses for the same.

Earlier on Friday, Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that "some devotees from Maharashtra" were killed in the bus tragedy and several others were injured.

The major rescue and relief operations were carried out by the local police, district and Nepal Army authorities, said officials here.

Some government officials from the Maharajganj Collectorate had proceeded to the India-Nepal border to render help, as the bus had a Uttar Pradesh registration number, though exact details were not available.

--IANS

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