Landslide, floods kill 58 in Nepal

At least 58 people have died in floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in Nepal, the government said Wednesday.

Another 20 people are missing and the Nepal army is racing to evacuate hundreds more from flooded villages as the waters rise.

The home ministry spokesman said 58 people were confirmed dead and another 20 were still unaccounted for.

“Our teams are working continuously in search and rescue operations, as well as to provide relief,” deputy spokesman Jhanka Nath Dhakal told AFP.

Images released by the army, which is involved in the operation, showed villagers waiting on rooftops to be evacuated in motorboats.

Scores of houses and bridges have been swept away in several parts of the country as incessant rains have swelled rivers, posing a threat of massive flooding and causing panic among the local population.

Dozens of people die every year from flooding and landslides during the monsoon rains in Nepal and neighbouring India.

Earlier in July, two children were killed when a school in the capital partially collapsed in heavy rains.

The situation is particularly desperate this year because millions of Nepalis are still living in tents or makeshift huts after a devastating earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people in 2015.

Pyuthan is among the 14 worst-hit districts where at least 26 people have died in floods and landslides. The toll increased in the district after 17 people who were earlier reported missing following a landslide were found to be dead.

Thousands of people have been displaced and hundreds of houses have been waterlogged after floodwaters gushed into their settlements.

Many of the deceased were earthquake victims who were living in a quake-damaged house after repair, the police said.

Tens of thousands of Nepalese are still living in tents following the devastating earthquakes in 2015 that killed nearly 9,000 people. Water levels were close to dangerous levels in Saptakoshi and Narayani rivers.