Flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 47 people in Nepal in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the Himalayan border in India, officials said yesterday.
At least 29 people were missing in Nepal, either swept by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since delayed monsoon rains began pounding the region on Friday, the Nepalese National Emergency Operation Center said.
Nine key highways remained blocked by floods and mudslides, and attempts were under way to open them up for traffic, the center said.
Photo: Reuters
Among them was the East-West Highway that connects the country’s southern districts.
Other roads were being cleared by thousands of police and soldiers. Continuing bad weather has grounded helicopter rescue flights.
Workers were also repairing fallen communication towers to restore telephone lines.
Twenty-eight people have been treated for injuries and more than 1,100 others rescued from flooded areas. More than 10,000 people are estimated to have been displaced.
The Nepalese Department of Hydrology and Meteorology warned of more troubles ahead in a flood warning for the southern region near the main rivers, urging people to keep watch on rising water levels and move to higher ground when needed.
Rain-triggered floods and mudslides have left a trail of destruction in other parts of South Asia.
Officials in northeastern India have reported at least a dozen people dead and more than 1 million affected.
The dead included two schoolchildren who were buried when their boarding school collapsed while they were asleep in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh State.
Assam State’s Disaster Response Authority said about 900,000 people spread over 21 of the state’s 33 districts have had their homes submerged.
Several thousands are living in government-run relief camps.
Elsewhere in Assam, Kaziranga National Park, home to the endangered one-horned rhinoceros, has been flooded.
The park is 225km east of Gauhati, the state capital.
Floods and mudslides have also hit some other northeastern states, including Meghalaya, Sikkim and Mizoram.
In Mizoram, floods have submerged about 400 homes in the small town of Tlabung, police said.
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