One person is dead and at least 25 others missing after flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains battering east Nepal, the first known fatality since the annual rains began last week.
Heavy rains washed away a hydro-electric project under construction on the Hewa River in Sankhuwasabha district in eastern Nepal where 16 workers have gone missing, government official Bimal Paudel said on Sunday.
“One body has been recovered while police are searching for the missing labourers,” he said.
Nine people were also missing in flash floods and landslides in neighbouring Taplejung and Panchthar districts, bordering India in the east, officials said.
Gaurav Dhakal of the Panchthar district said overnight rains damaged two bridges on the Mechi highway, cutting off the road link to remote Taplejung district where four people were missing.
Officials said heavy rains prevented rescue workers from reaching the hilly Sidingwa village where at least 20 houses were at risk of being washed away.
Annual rains, which are crucial for crops, normally begin in mid-June and continue through September in Nepal.
Hundreds are killed or go missing in rains which spark floods inundating villages, crops and damaging infrastructure every year in mostly mountainous Nepal, nestled between China and India.