Nearly 200 dead in Nepal floods, landslides

KABUL (Pajhwok): Nearly 200 lives have been lost to widespread flooding and landslides across Nepal, a media report said on Monday.

After days of heavy monsoon, much of southern Kathmandu and nearby cities were inundated or buried in thick mud, CNN reported.

Hundreds of homes were ruined, highways blocked and power lines drowned as a result of the flooding and landslides across the Himalayans nation.

According to the broadcaster, search and rescue teams have struggled to reach residents buried under their homes or trapped by flooding in remote areas.

The Nepal Armed Police Force used zip lines to traverse a flooded river in Lalitpur, a hard-hit area south of Kathmandu.

In other areas, rescuers dug with bare hands to save residents buried under mud and rubble. Boats and helicopters are being used to reach those stranded on rooftops.

Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs deputy spokesperson Dil Kumar Tamang was quoted as saying that at least 192 people had been killed and 96 injured since Friday.

With over 3,700 people rescued, officials fear the death toll could rise as rescue teams found their way to far-flund and cut-off areas.

According to Al Jazeera, entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were flooded after the heaviest rains in more than two decades, with the capital cut off from the rest of the country.

The disaster had been made worse by unplanned urban encroachment around the Bagmati River, said the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

PAN Monitor/mud