Two Vacationing Indian Nationals Die After Car Skids Into Pokhara's Phewa Lake

Two Indian nationals were killed and two others injured on Friday after their car plunged into Phewa Lake in Nepal's Pokhara, police said. The car, bearing a Bihar-registered number plate, fell into the lake at around 4:50 a.m., according to Jitendra B C, chief of the Gandaki Province Police Office. The vehicle, carrying four passengers, was travelling from Sedi toward Lakeside when the driver reportedly lost control near the Gairichautara bend in Pokhara Metropolitan City-18, causing it to veer off the road and fall approximately 20 metres into the lake.

One of the deceased was identified as 26-year-old Navdeep Kumar Yadav, a resident of Raxaul in Bihar's East Champaran district, whose identity was confirmed through his Aadhaar card. The identity of the second deceased Indian national, believed to be between 40 and 45 years old, had not been established at the time of reporting, according to police. The two injured passengers were identified as 27-year-old Anmol Kumar Yadav and 33-year-old Suraj Yadav, both also residents of Raxaul, Bihar.

Following the crash, a joint rescue team comprising personnel from the Baidam Ward Police Office and the Nepal Armed Police Force's No. 24 Kalika Battalion was deployed to the scene. Rescuers first recovered two of the passengers alive from the submerged vehicle in a conscious and stable condition; they were subsequently taken to Gandaki Medical College for treatment, where their condition was reported to be moderate and stable. At around 5:55 a.m., rescue teams retrieved the two remaining passengers from the water in an unconscious state and rushed them to the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences, also known as the Western Regional Hospital, where doctors pronounced both dead upon arrival.

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The car, bearing registration number BR 05 DB 6759, was pulled out of the lake with the help of a crane at around 6:20 a.m. and taken to the Baidam Ward Police Office, located roughly two kilometres east of the accident site, for further investigation. Around two dozen security personnel were mobilised as part of the broader rescue operation following the accident. Police said an investigation into the exact cause of the crash is currently underway, though early accounts suggest the driver lost control of the vehicle while navigating the turn near Gairichautara.

Pokhara, often referred to as Nepal's "capital of tourism," is a popular lakeside destination located roughly 200 kilometres west of Kathmandu and draws a significant number of Indian tourists each year, particularly those travelling by road from northern Indian states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. As authorities continue their investigation, officials from the Indian side are expected to be in contact with Nepali authorities regarding the identification of the second deceased victim and the repatriation process for the victims' remains, a standard procedure in cross-border accidents involving foreign nationals in Nepal.

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