Disasters & Accidents

Death toll due to rains, landslides reach 88 in Nepal

Kathmandu, Oct 21 (EFE).- At least 88 people have died and dozens others gone missing in Nepal due to torrential rains and landslides in recent days, the authorities reported Thursday.

Early Thursday, rescue teams recovered 11 bodies in the Himalayan country, taking the toll to 88 after 14 bodies were recovered on Tuesday and another 63 on Wednesday, according to the latest data from the Interior Ministry.

The highest number of casualties have so far been reported from the eastern mountainous district of Panchthar, with 27 deaths.

Moreover, 30 persons remain missing and 22 were seriously injured during the various landslides and floods that have affected some 20 districts of the country, according to official data.

Red Cross emergency teams have reached the areas most affected by heavy rainfall, where they are “working non-stop to evacuate survivors and provide critical relief to thousands of people,” Azmat Ulla, International Federation of Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) head in Nepal, said in a statement.

“With further storms and heavy rain forecast, we need to quickly access remote and worst-affected communities to provide essential relief items, while helping people to prevent further deaths by preparing for further floods and landslides,” Azmat said.

Rains cause significant damage to life and property every year in Nepal and other countries in South Asia, especially during the monsoon period between June and September, but the virulence of the rains after the monsoon on this occasion has left experts surprised.

Nepal is highly vulnerable to natural disasters, and ranks fourth in terms of vulnerability to climate change, according to a report by the United Nations Development Programme.

The unseasonable rains have also affected other countries in the region such as India, where about a hundred people have died in floods and landslides. EFE

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