KATHMANDU: Land-slides and floods triggered by heavy downpours in Nepal and neighbouring India have killed more than 60 people, officials said Sunday, as rescue workers raced to reach cut-off communities in remote mountainous terrain.
Torrential downpours have lashed Nepal since Friday, leaving rivers in spate and many areas in the Himalayan nation inundated.
At least 43 people have died in rain-triggered disasters and five are missing, Shanti Mahat, spokeswoman for Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told AFP. At least 37 were killed by landslides in the worst-affected eastern district of Illam.
“Heavy rains overnight caused the landslides,” said local district official Sunita Nepal.
“With roads blocked, some areas are difficult to reach. Rescue workers are heading there on foot.”
Rivers in the capital Kathmandu have also swelled, inundating settlements along their banks.
Security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts with helicopters and motorboats.
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