A Bolero pickup van sank into the ground and disappeared on Friday afternoon in Gairigaun, Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City, Makwanpur. Despite two days of searching on Friday and Saturday, the vehicle has not been found. On Sunday, a team of Armed Police Force was called in to continue the search.
The van, with the number plate Na 4 Cha 4833, belonged to local resident Hariram Rai. It was carrying a grass-cutting machine and was driving on an unpaved road between Wards 16 and 17 of Hetauda when it suddenly sank into the ground.
When the vehicle started sinking, the driver and helper tried to pull it back with a rope but failed. In a video, they can be heard calling someone for help. The person on the other end suggested using a tractor to pull it out, but the caller replied that the van had already sunk too deep to be pulled out.
Now, there is a large hole filled with muddy water at the spot where the van sank. The incident has caught the attention of many people.
What is the area like?
On both sides of the road are fish ponds, and a water boring system had been installed nearby to supply water to the ponds. The road may have weakened due to this boring, which could be why it collapsed, taking the van with it. In the video, one person even says that the van sank into the boring pit.
Animals have also disappeared here before
Locals say the area was once a swamp. In the past, several pairs of oxen had disappeared into the soft ground here. Ward 16 chairperson Ram Krishna Koirala said elders used to talk about 7–8 oxen getting lost in the ground. He himself remembers seeing one pair of oxen sink and vanish when he was younger.
In recent years, the land had dried up and become solid, which is why a road was built there about 6–7 years ago. Now, a vehicle has disappeared in the same place. Koirala said the Armed Police Force has been called to help with the search.
Bharat Raj Gautam, the Chief Administrative Officer of Hetauda Sub-Metropolitan City, also said he had heard stories about oxen disappearing in that area in the past. He added that the city will consult with geologists to investigate further since the incident happened within their area.
Two days after the incident, the city has finally called a disaster management meeting. Mayor Mina Lama said the meeting was called to discuss the situation.
Geology Department unaware of the incident
Even though a vehicle has gone missing in the ground, the Department of Mines and Geology has not been officially informed. Deputy Director Monika Jha said she only heard about it from the news and no one has asked for help.
She also mentioned that the department is currently without a Director General, which has created difficulties in their work. The previous Director General, Dinesh Nepali, had resigned, and Jha is only handling basic administrative duties for now.
She said, “If we receive a report about the incident in Hetauda, we will send a team of geologists to study it.”
