At least five people were killed and 38 others went missing following a landslide, triggered by heavy rains, that swept away dozens of houses on Friday in Nepal's Sindhupalchok district, 65 km from the capital city of Kathmandu, local media reported.
The landslide descended from Lama Tole on Friday, flattening over 30 houses in north-central areas of Nepal, including Lidimo Lama Tole, Jugal Rural Municipality-2 in Sindhupalchok, reported The Kathmandu Post.
#BIGNEWS: 5 dead, 8 injured and 38 missing after landslide hit Sindhupalchowk in #Nepal. pic.twitter.com/kRzBRdXLqq
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) August 14, 2020
Nepali Army choppers were pressed into service in the affected area to conduct a rescue mission. They airlifted survivors to hospitals. A 14-member rescue team from the Army is also participating in relief measures.
Governing Nepal Communist Party lawmaker Agni Prasad Sapkota, who reached the affected place to take stock of the situation, confirmed that over three dozen people were missing and most of the survivors are in bad condition, with broken limbs.
The landslide occurred again in the Sindhupalchowk district, Nepal. We should immediately start to prepared nationwide landslide risk mapping for the relocation of vulnerable settlements. @NEOCOfficial @NDRRMA_Nepal pic.twitter.com/ySGrGFviwY
— Geobasanta (@basanta58_raj) August 14, 2020
Excessive rains have wreaked havoc in neighbouring India as well recently. In the southern state of Kerala, as many as 55 people died in the Idukki district following a landslide on 7 August. The rescue operation is still underway in the area, with 15 people missing.
