A dramatic video captured the moment a huge mountain collapsed in Nepal following a seismic landslide, leaving an enormous gap in the natural feature. At least 19 people have died and 10 workers are missing after floods and landslides caused by storms that also battered parts of neighbouring India.
Fatalities and missing workers
Three children and a woman were killed in Nepal after being buried by a landslide that destroyed their house in Baglung district while they were asleep. Four bodies were found at a base camp at the Himlung Himal peak, which was inundated by an avalanche, where ten workers had been reported missing.
Nepali authorities warned of possible flash floods in 49 of the country’s 77 districts, with more than half facing high flood or flash-flood risks as water levels in major rivers continued to rise.
Impact in India
In India, the state of Uttar Pradesh was hit by heavy rain some 19 times above normal levels over the weekend, damaging 117 homes and killing 15 people, authorities confirmed. The Central Water Commission said 30 river-monitoring stations across seven states were in a ‘severe situation’. Water has risen above danger levels at several major rivers, including the Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati and Narmada.
Government response and warnings
Shanti Mahat, a spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction, said Rasuwa and Nuwakot, areas hit by last month’s flooding, were not currently considered high-risk areas but that residents should remain ‘alert’.
Flooding at the Rahuganga River damaged a 40-megawatt hydropower project, Water Resources and Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said. He said: ‘A technical team had been mobilised to assess the damage and restore the project.’
It comes just weeks after deadly floods claimed the lives of more than 1,450 people and left thousands unaccounted for. Nepal has been one of the countries hit hardest by climate change, despite being one of the world’s lowest polluters.
