(Kathmandu) At least 170 people have died in Nepal following floods and landslides caused by torrential rains, particularly in the capital Kathmandu, according to a new official report provided on Sunday.
Posted at 8:27 a.m.
Updated at 1:11 p.m.
Anup OJHA et Paavan Mathema
Agence France-Presse
Large parts of the east and center of the Himalayan country have been flooded since Friday, as have entire neighborhoods of Kathmandu. Rivers experienced flash floods, causing widespread damage and loss of life.
The toll continues to rise: it stands at 170 dead and 42 missing, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The previous one was 148 dead and 59 missing.
At least 35 of those killed were in three vehicles and were buried alive in a landslide on a highway south of Kathmandu, Nepalese police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP on Sunday.
PHOTO NAVESH CHITRAKAR, REUTERS
People stranded on the Tribhuwan Highway watch as rescuers struggle to recover the bodies of victims of a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Dhading, September 29, 2024.
More than 3,000 people are deployed to participate in rescue operations using helicopters, motor boats or inflatable boats.
“More than 3,000 people have been rescued” in the country, said Interior Ministry spokesperson Rishi Ram Tiwari.
He told AFP that excavators were being used to clear several highways blocked by debris, cutting Kathmandu off from the rest of the country.
A station at Kathmandu airport recorded 240 millimeters of rain, the highest level since 2002, it said.
PHOTO PRAKASH MATHEMA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Residents of Kathmandu drive through a flood-hit area after heavy monsoon rains in the capital, September 29, 2024.
This is the heaviest rainfall recorded in the Nepalese capital since at least 1970, according to this agency.
Faced with heavy rains, the authorities warned against flash floods in rivers.
Those in Kathmandu overflowed, flooding houses and vehicles near the banks.
Cut your roof
Kumar Tamang, who lives in a slum, told AFP that he and his family had to flee during the night from Friday to Saturday when water rushed into their hut.
” This morning [dimanche]we came back and everything is different,” said the 40-year-old. “We couldn’t even open the doors of our house, they were blocked by mud.”
“Yesterday we were afraid that the water would kill us, but today we no longer have water to clean,” he lamented.
Bishnu Maya Shrestha, who lives in another flooded district of Kathmandu, told AFP that she had to cut the roof off her house to escape the floods.
“We jumped from one roof to another to get to safety and eventually boats came to our aid.”
Domestic flights resumed on Sunday morning to and from Kathmandu, after being completely suspended since Friday evening due to the weather situation. More than 150 departures have been canceled.
Monsoons from June to September cause death and destruction across South Asia each year, but the number of deadly floods and landslides has increased in recent years.
Experts say climate change has worsened their frequency and intensity.
In July, a landslide on a road in Chitwan district (Central) threw two coaches with 59 passengers on board into a river. Three people were able to escape alive, but the authorities were only able to recover 20 bodies, a flood hampering the search.
