NN ONLINE:
At least 11 people were killed and one remains missing after landslides triggered by heavy rainfall struck two villages in eastern Nepal on Sunday, officials said.
Six members of a single family died when a landslide buried their home as they slept, while five others were killed in a neighboring village, said Bholanath Guragai, assistant administrative officer of Illam district. Rescue operations are ongoing, though continuous rain and blocked roads have made access difficult.
Authorities said several other villages have also been affected, with helicopters requested for emergency evacuations. Nepal’s government has issued a severe rainfall warning for the eastern and central regions through Monday, closing highways and grounding all domestic flights on Saturday due to poor visibility.
The disruptions come as hundreds of thousands of people return to Kathmandu following the Dashain festival. Some areas near the capital’s rivers were flooded, but no major casualties were reported. Last year, similar monsoon-season disasters killed 224 people and injured 158 across the country.
