Nepal Reels from Torrential Rains, Landslides: Death Toll Rises to 170

Nepal faces severe devastation with 170 deaths due to torrential rains, floods, and landslides. Rescue operations continue as multiple vehicles are buried, and key highways are blocked, causing massive disruptions.

The death toll in Nepal has risen to 170 after torrential rain combined with devastating floods and landslides struck the Himalayan nation on Saturday, reports Binod Prasad Adhikari.

Search and rescue operations are ongoing nationwide. The destruction is visible just meters past the Thankot Check Post, where landslides, uprooted trees, and debris litter the area.

A mudslide has blocked a 6.8-kilometre section of the Tribhuvan Highway, burying multiple vehicles. "We suspect four buses were buried; three are visible, and we're excavating another," said Gautam KC, chief of the Dhading District Police.

Excavators are working tirelessly to locate the remains of buses buried by the mudslide. Rescuers have found dead bodies beneath the debris, which are being transported to Kathmandu for autopsy and handover to the families. "A joint team from Kathmandu and Dhading Police is conducting the search. Security agencies are working in coordination. Twenty-seven bodies have been retrieved so far," police official KC told ANI.

The rescue team had recovered 35 bodies by late evening, with more expected. The ongoing search has left thousands of vehicles stranded along the highway. Over a hundred security personnel are working round the clock. "We have about one hundred personnel involved in the search," added KC.

On Saturday evening, 14 bodies were retrieved from a winger en route to Kathmandu from Butwal. On Sunday, 21 more bodies were found from two additional vehicles. Sixteen bodies were recovered from a microbus from Chitwan, while five were from a bus from Gorkha District.

Vehicle movement across major highways has been halted since early Saturday. Goods-carrying vehicles are stranded. Home to nine of the world's ten highest peaks, Nepal faced above-average rain this monsoon, affecting 1.8 million people. The NDRRMA estimates 412,000 households could be impacted by monsoon-related disasters.

The monsoon season usually lasts 105 days but is extending longer. Nepal received 7.2% more rainfall than average this year, with 1,586.3 millimetres recorded since June 10. Normally, the country gets 1,472 mm of rainfall in four months of monsoon season. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)