The Edition
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linkedin icon

Latest

Over three dozen killed in monsoon rains in South Asia

13 July 2019, MVT 13:16
An Indian child wades next to waterlogged houses following monsoon rain in Samarnagar area in Siliguri on July 12, 2019. - Floods from monsoon rains in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam have killed three people and marooned more than 400,000 in 740 villages, officials said on July 11. (Photo by DIPTENDU DUTTA / AFP)
13 July 2019, MVT 13:16

Floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 40 people across South Asia in the last two days, officials said Saturday.

The monsoon, which lasts from June to September, causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year.

In Nepal, 27 people have died in floods and landslides after heavy rains hit the country's eastern region and the southern plains.

Bishwaraj Pokharel, spokesperson for Nepal Police, added that another 11 people were injured and 15 others reported missing.

Three of the victims were killed when a wall collapsed in the capital Kathmandu.

"Our first priority is life saving rescue and all our resources have been deployed," Home Ministry official Umakanta Adhikari told AFP.

Police used boats to bring people to safety as rivers swelled, inundating their settlements, while parents were seen wading across chest-high waters carrying children on their shoulders.

Nepal's weather department issued a high alert for the southern Sapta Koshi river on Saturday and sent SMS warnings to people in the area.

In neighbouring India 11 deaths have been recorded in the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, officials said Friday.

Monsoon floods have inundated 21 districts in Assam, affecting thousands, officials said Friday.

In Bangladesh aid groups were providing rations to Rohingya refugees in the southeast of the country with the UN World Food Programme saying Friday that two people including a child had died.

Last year, more than 1,200 people were been killed across South Asia in monsoon storms with India's Kerala suffering its worst floods in nearly 100 years.

Kathmandu, Nepal | AFP

Share this story

Related Stories

Discuss

MORE ON WORLD