Three people died on the spot while 12 others were injured when a bus and a scooter were hit by a falling tree at Sallaghari of Bhaktapur this afternoon. According to the Metropolitan Police Range Bhaktapur, the vehicles were in motion when they were hit by a tree that fell all of a sudden.

Range information officer Deputy Superintendent of Police, Raju Pandey, said the bus (Ba 2 Kha 3584) was heading to Dudhpati from Kathmandu via Thimi and the two-wheeler (Ba 61 Pa 3968) was en route to Sallaghari from Dudhpati, Bhaktapur when the accident happened.

According to eye witnesses, of the dead, two were the passengers of the bus while one was travelling in the scooter. The injured were rushed to the Iwamura Hospital, Sallaghari, Madhyapur Hospital Thimi and the Bhaktapur International Hospital, Kaushaltar.

The number of the injured may go up and identities of the deceased and injured are yet to be ascertained, it is said. Until the filing of this report, rescue efforts were underway.

As locals said, the old tree was brought down by wind after 12:00 noon today.