Nepal flood deaths reach 193 as recovery work is stepped up

In this aerial image of the Kathmandu valley, the Bagmati River is seen in flood due to heavy rains. (AP Photo/Gopen Rai)

PA (northwalespioneer), 29 September 2024 : People watch earthmovers removing debris and bodies trapped under a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu (Sujan Gurung/AP)

The number of people killed by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall over the weekend in Nepal has reached 193 while recovery and rescue work has been stepped up, officials said on Monday.

A police statement said 31 people were still reported missing and 96 people were injured across the Himalayan nation.

At least 34 people were killed in the capital Kathmandu, which received heavy rainfall, with much of the southern part of the city was flooded.

At least three buses stuck in the traffic jam were buried by a landslide that killed three dozen people at a point on the highway about 10 miles from Kathmandu. Because of the blocked road, people in the buses and other vehicles were sleeping when the landslide buried the vehicles.

Kathmandu had remained cut off all weekend as the three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Workers were able to temporarily open up the key Prithvi highway, removing rocks, mud and trees that had been washed from the mountains.

Weather improved on Sunday and Monday, allowing rescue and recovery work to be stepped up.

People living in the southern part of Kathmandu, which was inundated on Saturday, were cleaning up houses as water levels began to recede.

Police and soldiers were assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. The government announced it was closing schools and colleges across Nepal for three days.

The monsoon season begins in June and usually ends by mid-September.

AP, KATHMANDU, Nepal : Rescuers in Nepal recovered dozens of bodies from buses and other vehicles that were buried in landslides near the capital Kathmandu, as the death toll from flooding rose to at least 148 with dozens missing, officials said Sunday.

The weather improved on Sunday following three days of monsoon rains, and rescue and clean-up efforts were underway. Kathmandu remained cut off Sunday as three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides.

Rescuers retrieved 14 bodies overnight from two buses that were headed to Kathmandu when a landslide buried them. Another 23 bodies were dug out from vehicles Sunday on the same spot, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Kathmandu, and workers searched for others who may have been buried.

A statement by the Nepal police said another 101 people were injured in the flooding and landslides while 50 are missing. The death toll was expected to rise as reports come in from villages across the mountainous country.

Residents in the southern part of Kathmandu, which was inundated on Saturday, were cleaning up houses as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people were killed in Kathmandu, which was the hardest hit by flooding.

Police and soldiers were assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. The government announced it was closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.

The monsoon season began in June and usually ends by mid-September.

PTI: The death toll from rain-triggered floods and landslides across Nepal climbed to 170 with 42 people missing on Sunday, officials said.

Large swathes of eastern and central Nepal have been inundated since Friday, with flash floods reported in parts of the country.

According to police, 170 people have been killed so far due to floods and landslides across Nepal.

According to Home Ministry officials, 42 people are missing in floods, landslides and inundation.

As many as 111 people have sustained injuries in flood-related incidents, Ministry of Home

Affairs spokesperson Rishiram Pokharel said.Search and rescue operations are underway with the mobilisation of all the security agencies, he said, adding that the Nepal Army has airlifted 162 people from across the country.

As many as 4,000 people affected by flood and inundation have been rescued by the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel, Pokharel said.

All necessary relief materials, including food grains, have been distributed to those rescued, he said.

In the Balkhu area on the outskirts of Kathmandu, meals were distributed to 400 people with the help of social workers, the spokesperson said.

National highways have been blocked since Saturday, with hundreds of people stranded on various highways due to landslides.

Efforts are underway to clear national highways where roads are obstructed due to flood, landslide and inundation. Transport has resumed at the Tribhuvan Highway, the main land route connecting Kathmandu to other districts, Pokharel said.

The floods damaged at least 322 houses and 16 bridges across Nepal.

Eyewitnesses said they have never seen such a devastating flood and inundation in the 

Kathmandu Valley in 40-45 years.

"I've never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu," said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, Climate and Environmental expert at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Kathmandu's main river, the Bagmati, was flowing above danger levels after incessant rain lashed much of eastern and central Nepal on Friday and Saturday, a report published by ICIMOD said.

A low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal and the more northerly than usual position of the monsoon trough was the reason behind Saturday's exceptionally intense rain, it said.

Scientists say that while climate change is changing the amount and timing of rainfall across Asia, a key reason for the rise in the impact of floods is the built environment, including unplanned construction, especially on floodplains, which leaves insufficient areas for water retention and drainage.

The floods and landslides have thrown life out of gear in many parts of the country, with many highways and road stretches disrupted, hundreds of houses and bridges buried or swept away, and hundreds of families displaced.

Thousands of passengers have been stranded in various places due to road disruption.

At least 19 people were killed on Saturday when a bus was buried in a landslide in Dhading district bordering Kathmandu. Five people died when a house collapsed under a landslide in the city of Bhaktapur.

Six football players were also killed in a landslide at a training centre operated by the All Nepal Football Association in Makwanpur. Others have been swept up in the floodwaters.

Meanwhile, despite the forecast for rain to continue until Tuesday, there were signs of some easing on Sunday.