Landslides & floods kill 22 in Nepal as officials warn of severe rainfall

Landslides, a lighting strike and flooding triggered by severe rainfall killed at least 22 people in Nepal and 12 others were reported missing on Sunday, officials said.

Several villages in Nepal’s eastern mountain district of Illam were swept away by landslides on Sunday, killing at least 18 people and leaving seven others missing, Nepal police spokesman Binod Ghimire said.

Six people in the same family were killed when a landslide crushed their home while they slept, Illam’s assistant administrative officer Bholanath Guragai said.

Rainfall was hampering efforts to reach the villages and many roads were swept away or blocked by the landslides. Guragai said helicopters from the central government were needed for medical evacuations.

Three other people in a separate district were killed as they were struck by lighting and one person died in flooding in southern Nepal.

Authorities have rescued 114 people, Ghimire said.

Nepal’s government issued a severe rainfall warning in the eastern and central parts of the country from Saturday to Monday, while shutting down major highways. All domestic flights were grounded on Saturday by aviation authorities because of heavy rainfall and poor visibility but were reopened on Sunday.

The major highways connecting the capital, Kathmandu, with other areas were closed by the authorities as some parts were blocked by landslides and others were shut as a precautionary measure.

The blockage of roads and transport came as hundreds of thousands of people were returning to Kathmandu after celebrating Dashain, the biggest festival in the Himalayan nation. Thursday was the main day of the two-week festival when people travel to their home villages to be with their families.

Highways were clogged with vehicles on Sunday, as the government assessed the situation.

In Kathmandu, some areas near the river were flooded but no major damage or casualties were reported.

The government had declared a national holiday until Monday because of the heavy rainfall.

Flooding and landslides last year around the same time killed 224 people and left 158 injured.

The weekend’s heavy rainfall arrived at the end of Nepal’s monsoon season, which usually begins in June and ends by mid-September.