KATHMANDU
• Monsoon floods and landslides have killed at least 66 people across Nepal and India, but officials fear that figure could almost double as rescuers search for dozens believed lost under the mud and in submerged villages.

The authorities yesterday upgraded the death toll from flash flooding across landlocked Nepal to 49 as thousands fled for higher ground.

"Another 17 are missing. Search and rescue works are under way but the water levels have not declined yet," said Mr Shankar Hari Acharya, the chief of Nepal's national emergency centre.

The Red Cross estimated a higher death toll of 53, with dozens more missing and injured, and thousands of homes destroyed.

In neighbouring India, rescuers were desperately trying to reach two packed buses swept into a gorge by a landslide.

Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the accident site in the Himalayan state, but dozens were still missing somewhere at the bottom of the ravine.

"Around 200m of national highway washed away with two buses and more than 50 are feared buried," said Indian army spokesman Aman Anand, who was helping coordinate rescue efforts. </s> Kathmandu: The death toll from flooding and other rain-triggered incidents in Nepal climbed to 34 on Saturday with over 24 persons still missing, officials said.

Heavy monsoon rains for the past few days have left many settlements at high risk of floods and landslides in several places in Nepal. Transportation has also been disrupted in all major highways.

Rain-fed rivers have also started to erode embankments putting nearby settlements at high risk of flooding.

Officials said the Kosi River in eastern Nepal, which flows into the eastern Indian state of Bihar, had risen above the danger mark.

The Kosi has been a serious concern for both India and Nepal since it broke its banks in 2008 and changed course, submerging swathes of land and affecting more than two million people in Bihar. About 500 people died in that disaster.

Thirty of the 56 sluice gates at a barrage along the Kosi at the Indo-Nepal border have been opened, and rescue teams deployed to evacuate villagers, officials said

"The rain-triggered disasters have caused havoc across the country," the Nepal Police said in its news bulletin.

Deaths were reported from various districts, including Lalitpur, Kavre, Kotang, Bhojpur and Makanpur.

The death toll has reached 34, authorities said.

Meanwhile, human resources and equipment from police offices have been mobilised in the areas affected by the rain-triggered disasters.

"The works related to rescue operation have been intensified," a senior Home Ministry official said.

It is estimated that around 6,000 people have been badly affected by floodwaters that inundated their houses. </s> Nepal floods, landslides leave at least 49 dead, dozens missing, officials say

Landslides and flooding triggered by heavy rain have killed at least 49 people in southern Nepal and left thousands homeless, officials say.

The toll is expected to rise with three dozen people reported missing. Another 17 were injured.

The heavy rain, which mainly hit the country's southern plains, led to the evacuation of 5,000 people, a Home Ministry official said.

More than 30 people were reported dead on Saturday.

Army and police continued search and rescue operations, with more than 34,000 houses submerged, the official added.

"The number of dead could increase as we are still compiling the final tally," said Laxmi Pun, an aide to Home Minister Janardan Sharma.

The Red Cross estimated 100,000 people were affected by the disaster, with one official describing how the storm had cut off communication and electricity, adding to the challenges in rescuing people and distributing aid.

In the eastern city of Biratnagar, the airport was closed after the runway was submerged under more than half a metre of water.

Monsoon rains, which start in June and continue through to September, are important for farm-dependent Nepal, but they also cause havoc each year. </s> Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have left more than 30 people dead in Nepal in the past 24 hours, authorities said on Saturday.

Ten more people were missing and the number of dead looked set to climb as large parts of the country were under water, officials said.

Rescue teams of soldiers, police and local people have been deployed to help those trapped on rooftops or on higher ground, officials added, as TV pictures showed damaged roads and bridges.

Weather experts said more rain was expected overnight and the government has told residents to remain alert. The Koshi river in the south of the country - a main waterway - was above the danger level, authorities warned.

Monsoon rains from June to September are important for farm-dependent Nepal, but they also cause havoc each year.

"It has left extensive damage," Dipak Kafle, a spokesman for Nepal's Home Ministry, told Reuters. He said there was no estimate yet for property losses.

"We have more than 30 people confirmed dead. But we are more focused on rescuing those who are alive than collecting details about the dead," he said, indicating the death toll could go up.



In the eastern city of Biratnagar an airport runway was under two feet of water, TV footage showed, leading to a suspension of flights. Highways were either damaged or inundated, disrupting transport, police said.

Local officials have opened temporary shelters for displaced people in schools or public buildings. </s> KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Police in Nepal say flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall have killed at least 43 people in the past few days, with more deaths reported across the Himalayan border in India.

At least 24 others are missing in Nepal, either swept by swollen rivers or buried by mudslides since rains began pounding the region Friday. Roads and highways have been blocked in parts of Nepal while communication towers are knocked down.

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 over a million affected.

The dead include two schoolchildren who were buried when their boarding school collapsed while they were asleep in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh state. </s> Monsoon floods and landslides have killed at least 66 people across Nepal and India but officials fear that figure could almost double as rescuers search for dozens believed lost under mud and in submerged villages.

Authorities Sunday upgraded the death toll from flash flooding across landlocked Nepal to 49 as the water kept rising, forcing thousands to flee for higher ground.

"Another 17 are missing. Search and rescue works are underway but the water levels have not declined yet," said Shankar Hari Acharya, the chief of Nepal's national emergency centre.

The Red Cross estimated a higher death toll of 53, with dozens more missing and injured and thousands of homes destroyed.

In neighbouring India, rescuers were desperately trying to reach two packed buses swept into a gorge by a landslide so powerful it destroyed an entire stretch of highway.

The coaches had stopped for a tea break around midnight Saturday in Himachal Pradesh when tonnes of rock and mud cascaded down a mountainside.

Seventeen bodies have been recovered from the accident site in the Himalayan state, said Sandeep Kadam, a senior official at the scene.

But dozens were still missing somewhere at the bottom of the ravine, with soldiers and rescuers clawing through the mud and rock to reach them.

"Around 200 metres of national highway washed away with two buses and more than 50 feared buried," said Indian army spokesman Colonel Aman Anand, who was helping coordinate rescue efforts.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his condolences and prayers for those affected by the accident.

"Pained by the loss of lives due to landslide-related accidents in HP's Mandi district," he posted on Twitter, using the acronym for Himachal Pradesh state.

The disaster followed days of heavy rain, which loosens the soil on steep hillsides and threatens villages at the foot of mountains every monsoon season.

Hundreds have died across India in torrential rain, floods and landslides since the onset of the wet season in April.

In Nepal the toll from this year's monsoon -- which typically lasts from late June until the end of August -- has already eclipsed last year, with more than 100 people confirmed dead.

Last weekend in the central lowlands, four girls from the same family drowned when they fell into a flooded roadside ditch.

Nepal's weather department warned that heavy rain was expected to continue for another day, following days of torrential downpours.

"There isn't a house without water," said Raghu Ram Mehta, a resident of the southern district of Sunsari which has suffered nine deaths, the highest of any district.

"Hundreds of families are taking shelter in local schools."

Footage aired on Nepali TV showed villagers wading through waist-high water with their belongings and using boats to reach higher ground.

Families perched on trees with young children overnight as flood waters swept away homes in a village in the southern district of Chitwan, local media reported.

In the popular jungle safari resort of Sauraha in Chitwan, hotels were forced to shift their guests to higher floors as water rushed in.

A hotel owner said they used elephants to transport tourist

highway and airport to help them return to the capital Kathmandu.

Biratnagar airport in the eastern district of Morang was closed after being submerged in a metre of water, authorities at the international terminal said.

"I have already instructed authorities concerned to rescue flood victims, move them to safer locations and immediately provide relief to them," Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said in a video recording Saturday. </s> Floods and landslides triggered by incessant monsoon rains across Nepal have claimed at least 113 lives while 38 people are still missing, officials said on Sunday. Parts of central and southern Nepal including some areas of Kathmandu valley have been inundated due to incessant rains since last two weeks.

At least 113 people were killed and 67 others injured in the rain-induced disasters in this monsoon, Home Ministry officials said.

At least 38 people have gone missing in the latest incidents of landslide and floods across Nepal.

The rain-induced disasters have affected 67 out of a total of 77 districts of the country.

The government has mobilised army and police personnel for rescue works.

With the situation remaining grim, Nepal has appealed to the international agencies for help to prevent the possible water-borne diseases and to ensure proper health services to the tens of thousands of people affected.

Also Read: Agra receives heavy rains after much delay, low-lying areas flooded

Also Read: 600 Killed, 25 Million Affected By Floods In South Asia: United Nations

Also Read: Tripura MP Pratima Bhowmik donates first salary for Assam flood relief </s> At least 25 dead in Nepal landslides, floods

A rescue team from the Armed Police Force stands near damaged houses in the landslide area in Sindhupalchowk district in this file picture. Floods and landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 25 people in the last two days across Nepal. — Reuters pic KATHMANDU, Aug 12 — Floods and landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 25 people in the last two days across Nepal, officials said today.

Heavy rains have hit more than a dozen districts in the country’s far eastern region as well as some areas in the west since yesterday morning, the home ministry said.

Flooding has occurred across the densely populated lowlands that border India, while some remote districts in the hilly areas of the far east have been hit by landslides triggered by the monsoon rains.

“We are still collecting the details of the loss. According to the preliminary reports to the ministry over 25 people are feared dead,” Home Ministry spokesman Deepak Kafle told AFP.

The Prime Minister’s office issued a statement putting the death toll at more than two dozen since yesterday.

Thirteen people died in eastern districts and at least four others are missing, the head of the region’s police Ramesh Bhattarai said.

Telephone and electricity lines have also been affected by the heavy downpour making it difficult to confirm the full extent of the damage in remote areas, the police chief added.

Roads across the southern plains have been blocked by the rains and three highway bridges collapsed in western Banke district, Home Minister Janardan Sharma said at a press conference.

Images on social media showed the runway at Biratnagar airport in eastern Morang district submerged in a metre (three feet) of water with an empty plane stranded on the tarmac.

Chief of Morang district police Arun BC said that airport had been shut due to the flooding.

The most recent deaths bring the total death toll from this year’s monsoon to over 90, according to government figures. Nearly 100 people died last year in Nepal during the rainy season, which typically begins in late June and lasts until the end of August.

Last weekend in the central lowlands, four girls from the same family drowned when they fell into a flooded roadside ditch.

Another girl died and one was injured when they fell in open drains that had been submerged by monsoon flooding in the Kathmandu Valley last month.

Footage shot by a bystander shows one of the girls tentatively navigating a flooded road, before suddenly disappearing into the brown muddy water. A few seconds later she appears out of another drain about 10 metres away.

The video went viral on social media in Nepal, sparking outrage over the condition of the roads in the capital.

Nepal’s weather department issued an alert today warning that heavy rains were expected to continue for another day, and advised districts to close schools and residents to stay indoors. — AFP </s> Floods and landslides triggered by incessant monsoon rains across Nepal have claimed at least 113 lives while 38 people are still missing, officials said Sunday.

Parts of central and southern Nepal including some areas of Kathmandu valley have been inundated due to incessant rains since last two weeks.

At least 113 people were killed and 67 others injured in the rain induced disasters in this monsoon, Home Ministry officials said.

At least 38 people have gone missing in the latest incidents of landslide and floods across Nepal.

The rain induced disasters have affected 67 out of total of 77 districts of the country.

The government has mobilised army and police personnel for rescue works.

With the situation remaining grim, Nepal has appealed to the international agencies for help to prevent the possible water-borne diseases and to ensure proper health services to the tens of thousands of people affected.
The death toll of the heavy floods in Nepal rise to 113.