At least 10 people have died in Nepal’s landslides and floods brought on by the country’s intense rains, and rescue workers are still looking for the remaining 18 individuals, according to a disaster official on Saturday.
Since Friday, there has been an abundance of rain in several parts of Nepal, which has led disaster officials to issue warnings of flash floods in several rivers.
“Police are working with other agencies and locals to rescue and find the missing people,” Basanta Adhikari, a spokesman for Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told AFP.
Rivers in the capital Kathmandu swelled, inundating houses and cars close to their banks.
“When I went outside in the middle of the night, the water had reached up to my shoulders,” said Hari Malla, a 49-year-old truck driver.
“My whole truck is under water,” he told AFP.
More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts with helicopters and motorboats.
Landslides have blocked several highways leaving hundreds of travellers stranded.
“We have around eight locations, all of them have been blocked due to landslides in different sections of the road,” said Kathmandu traffic police officer Bishwaraj Khadka.
Starting on Friday night, all domestic flights departing from Kathmandu were canceled, impacting over 150 trips.
Every year, South Asia experiences significant mortality and destruction due to the monsoon rains, which last from June to September. However, in recent years, there have been more devastating floods and landslides.
Climate change, according to experts, has made them more frequent and intense.
This year, rain-related calamities in Nepal have claimed the lives of over 170 individuals.
