Floods, landslides kill more than 50 people in Nepal

Kathmandu, Oct 20 (EFE).- More than 50 people have died and dozens have gone missing following a spell of unseasonal rainfall that has triggered flooding and landslides across the Himalayan nation in last 36 hours.

This is the first instance of landslide and floods in the autumn season in 12 years, and has resulted in damages to roads and houses, while hundreds of hectares of farmlands have been inundated, according to officials.

The highest casualty was reported from Doti, in western Nepal, where the death toll reached 14 on Wednesday, Interior Ministry spokesperson Phanindra Mani Pokharel told EFE.

In the eastern hill district of Ilam, 13 people, including four members of the same family, died in landslides.

Another, seven people were killed and six others injured when several houses were buried in a landslide at Gadhire in eastern Dhankuta district late Tuesday.

In Panchthar district, also in eastern Nepal, seven people lost their lives and two others went missing following multiple landslides on Tuesday night.

In the western district of Humla, four deaths were reported and two went missing after a landslide swept away a house at Kharpunath Rural Municipality.

In western Baitadi district, four casualties were reported, including three members of a family in Shivanath Rural Municipality, and another two in Dadeldhura, according to interior ministry officials.

In Bajhang district, as many as 24 people have been reported missing after a landslide buried seven houses at Dikla village.

“Search and rescue have been hindered as the landslide has not stopped,” Pokharel said.

In the western Bardiya district, more than 1,000 houses were inundated in Rajapur and Geruwa municipalities as the Karnali river flooded its banks.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed villagers in the Tarai region wading through knee-deep water to collect their paddy crop.

“The actual agricultural losses are yet to be assessed. But preliminary estimates show crops worth billions of rupees have been destroyed,” Prakash Sanjel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, told EFE.

Pokharel of the h, full details of the damage have not been released as floods and landslides have not stopped across the country.

Pokharel of the interior ministry too stressed that the full extent of the damage was yet to be determined given that the floods and landslides continued across the country.

Addressing a meeting of the Disaster Management Council on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba instructed officials to provide for immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation in the affected areas.

Moreover, government spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said at a press briefing that a financial assistance of Rs 200,000 ($2,000) would be provided to the families of the victims.

Monsoons occur in Nepal between the months of June and September every year. EFE

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