At least 38 people killed, 29 missing in Nepal floods and landslides

At least 38 people have been killed and 29 others reported missing, according to officials, as incessant rains in Nepal have unleashed floods and landslides during the last 24 hours.

More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed to assist rescue efforts with helicopters and motorboats on Saturday, as parts of the country, including the capital Kathmandu, have been inundated. Authorities are also warning of more possible flash floods in multiple rivers.

Monsoon rains from June to September bring widespread death and destruction every year in the Himalayan nation and across South Asia, but the number of fatal floods and landslides has risen in recent years.

“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 the AFP news agency.

A truck driver who witnessed the flooding said that when he went outside in the middle of the night, the water had already reached up to his shoulders.Since Friday evening, all domestic flights out of Kathmandu have been cancelled, affecting more than 150 departures. International flights are still in operation, Rinji Sherpa, a spokesperson for Kathmandu airport, told the Reuters news agency.

Police were working to clear debris and reopen roads to traffic after landslides blocked highways at 28 locations, police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said.

The earliest letup in the rains might not come until Sunday, said Binu Maharjan, a weather forecasting official in Kathmandu, who blamed a low-pressure system over parts of neighbouring India for this year’s extended rains.

“Heavy rains are likely to continue until Sunday morning and weather is likely to clear after that,” Maharjan told Reuters.

In the southeast, the Koshi River, which causes deadly floods in India’s eastern neighbouring state of Bihar almost every year, was running above the danger level, one official said.

The river level was still rising, according to Ram Chandra Tiwari, the area’s top bureaucrat.

Experts say climate change has worsened the frequency and intensity of the rain in Nepal.

This year, more than 170 people have been killed in rain-related disasters.