The bus (Jeetpur Tiger) had departed from Kathmandu on 22 February at about 4AM and was headed to Birgunj. At Bhandara, about 8-10 people, including four women, armed with khukris, sticks and petrol bombs stopped the bus. The incident took place near a milestone that read "Bhandara 2 km". They yelled at the driver: "Don't you know today is a bandh? Get off, and get the passengers off." The driver said he was delayed because of security checks along the road and tried to assure them that since it was not time for the bandh to begin, he would reach Birgunj before daybreak. "We don't have time to listen to your arguments, back up right now. Turn off your lights and get the passengers out," they said. The driver backed up, asked the passengers to disembark, and hurriedly stepped off the vehicle. A woman Maoist then lit a fuse and lobbed a Molotov cocktail through the driver's window. The blast was small, but the bus started burning and passengers scurried for the door and windows. Two more petrol bombs were thrown in through windows. Then the bus went up in flames and there was a thick cloud of smoke.there were screams coming from inside, among them the cries of a child screaming: "Mama, mama."

.Because they were not given enough time to get off the bus, five people including a five-year-old child were burnt to death.

(Prachi is published by the human rights group INSEC, which also publishes the annual Human Rights Yearbook.)