RESCUERS in Nepal have recovered the first body after a landslide swept two buses into into a raging river a day earlier.

The buses, carrying more than 50 people, fell into the Trishuli river, which was swollen by continuous monsoon rainfall over the past few days.

Nepal’s rivers generally are fast flowing due to the mountainous terrain and the waters of the Trishuli had turned murky brown, making it even more difficult to see the wreckage.

A man’s body was found some 31 miles from where the buses fell into the river, government administrator Khima Nanda Bhusal said on Saturday, adding that rescuers had found a bank card and were in the process of identifying the man.

They are now expanding their search area toward the southern region from the landslide area where the body was found, Mr Bhusal said.

Three people were ejected from the buses and were being treated in a nearby hospital.

The buses were on the highway connecting Kathmandu to southern parts of the country when they were swept away on Friday morning near Simaltal, about 75 miles west of the capital.