Flood kills 192 in Nepal

Days of heavy rains in Nepal have triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the Himalayan nation, killing 192 people and causing widespread destruction.

Search and rescue teams in Nepal’s capital picked through wrecked homes on Monday, September 30, after waters receded from monsoon floods.

Images from the capital show much of southern Kathmandu and nearby cities underwater or buried in thick mud as incessant torrential rains caused major rivers to swell far above danger levels. 

The floods and landslides have destroyed hundreds of homes, cut off highways, and downed power lines, which hit just months after the country experienced deadly record rainfall and flash flooding that scientists say has intensified as a result of the climate crisis.

“Our focus is on search and rescue, including people who have been stranded on highways,” Home Ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari told AFP.

“192 people have been reported dead, and another 31 are missing,” he added. 

At least 35 of those killed were buried alive when earth from a landslide careened into vehicles on a highway south of Kathmandu, Nepal Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP. 

Rescuers in knee-high rubber boots were using shovels to clear mud from the worst-hit riverside neighbourhoods around Kathmandu.

Nepal’s army said that more than 4,000 people had been rescued, with helicopters, motorboats and rafts used to bring stranded households to safety. 

Bulldozers were being used to clear nearly two dozen sections of major highways leading into Kathmandu that had been blocked by debris.

Experts say climate change has worsened the frequency and intensity of monsoon rains. 

More than 300 people have died in Nepal in rain-related disasters this year.