Tag: nepal

Nepal landslides, floods kill at least 44 and leave 5 missing

  • This article was written by Binaj Gurubacharya and was published in the Globe & Mail on October 6, 2025.
Nepalese army personnel prepare to rescue survivors after a flood in Jhapa district, Nepal, on Sunday.

Landslides, a lightning strike and flooding triggered by severe rainfall killed at least 44 people in Nepal on Sunday, with five others reported missing, authorities said.

Those killed included at least 37 people in the eastern mountain district of Illam, where whole villages were swept away by landslides, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said. Several other people are still missing.

Heavy rainfall was reported since Friday in the district, which borders India and is known for growing tea.

Six people in the same family were killed when a landslide crushed their home while they slept, Illam’s assistant administrative officer Bholanath Guragai said.

Rainfall was hampering efforts to reach the villages and many roads were swept away or blocked by the landslides.

The government said helicopters were also evacuating people needing medical evacuations and ground troops were helping move people to safer areas.

One more person was killed in a landslide in a neighbouring district.

Three people in another district were killed as they were struck by lightning, while three more people died in flooding in southern Nepal.

Nepal’s government issued a severe rainfall warning in the eastern and central parts of the country from Saturday to Monday, while shutting down major highways. All domestic flights were grounded on Saturday by aviation authorities because of heavy rainfall and poor visibility but were reopened on Sunday.

The major highways connecting the capital, Kathmandu, with other areas were closed by the authorities as some parts were blocked by landslides and others were shut as a precautionary measure.

By Sunday evening, one route was partially opened for traffic.

The blockage of roads and transport came as hundreds of thousands of people were returning to Kathmandu after celebrating Dashain, the biggest festival in the Himalayan nation. Thursday was the main day of the two-week festival when people travel to their home villages to be with their families.

Highways were clogged with vehicles on Sunday, as the government assessed the situation.

In Kathmandu, some areas near the river were flooded but no major damage or casualties were reported.

The government had declared a national holiday until Monday because of the heavy rainfall.

Flooding and landslides last year around the same time killed 224 people and left 158 injured.

Neighbouring India, which surrounds landlocked Nepal on three sides, has offered to help.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on socialmedia platform X that the loss of lives and damage caused by heavy rains in Nepal are distressing.

“We stand with the people and Government of Nepal in this difficult time,” he said. “As a friendly neighbour and first responder, India remains committed to providing any assistance that may be required.”

There was no comment from Nepal on the offer.

The weekend’s heavy rainfall arrived at the end of Nepal’s monsoon season, which usually begins in June and ends by mid-September.

The blockage of roads and transport came as hundreds of thousands of people were returning to Kathmandu after celebrating Dashain, the biggest festival in the Himalayan nation.

Flash floods kill more than 280

Death toll in north­w­est Pakistan hits at least 157, accord­ing to offi­cials

Villagers collect wood and other items from the debris of damaged houses at the site of a cloudburst that triggered a flash flood, in Naryan Behak village near Muzaffarabad, Kashmir, on Friday.

This article was written by the Associated Press and was published in the Toronto Star on August 16, 2025.

Flash floods triggered by tor­ren­tial rains have killed over 280 people in India and Pakistan and left scores of oth­ers miss­ing, offi­cials said Fri­day, as res­cuers brought to safety about 1,600 people from two moun­tain­ous dis­tricts in the neigh­bour­ing coun­tries.

Flood­ing began a day earlier in Indian­con­trolled Kash­mir and spread to the north and north­w­est in Pakistan, triggered by sud­den, intense down­pours over small areas. The floods and sub­sequent land­slides injured dozens of people and forced the evac­u­ation and res­cue of thou­sands of oth­ers, par­tic­u­larly in the Khy­ber Pakh­tunkhwa province.

Such cloud­bursts are increas­ingly com­mon in India’s Him­alayan regions and Pakistan’s north­ern areas, and experts have said cli­mate change is a con­trib­ut­ing factor.

Lead­ers in both coun­tries offered their con­dol­ences to the vic­tims’ fam­il­ies and assured them of swift relief.

In Indian­con­trolled Kash­mir, res­cuers searched for miss­ing people in the remote Him­alayan vil­lage of Chos­iti after flash floods a day earlier left at least 60 people dead and at least 80 miss­ing, offi­cials said.

At least 300 people were res­cued Thursday fol­low­ing a power­ful cloud­burst that triggered floods and land­slides, but the oper­a­tion was hal­ted overnight. Offi­cials said many miss­ing people were believed to have been washed away, and the num­ber of miss­ing could increase.

Res­id­ent Harvinder Singh said he joined the res­cue efforts imme­di­ately after the dis­aster and helped retrieve 33 bod­ies from the mud.

At least 50 ser­i­ously injured people were treated at hos­pit­als, many of them res­cued from a stream filled with mud and debris.

In north­ern and north­west­ern Pakistan, flash floods killed at least 243 people, includ­ing 157 who died Fri­day in the Buner dis­trict in north­w­est Pakistan.

Death toll rises in Nepal after floods, landslides

This article was written by Binaj Gurubacharya and was published in the Globe & Mail on October 1, 2024.

A man wades through flood waters in the village of Roshi in Nepal’s Kavre district on Monday. Police say 31 people are still missing and 96 have been injured across the country.

The number of people killed in Nepal by flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall over the weekend reached 193 while recovery and rescue work stepped up on Monday.

Many of the deaths were in the capital, Kathmandu, which got heavy rainfall, and much of the southern part of the city was flooded. Police said in a statement that 31 people were still reported missing and 96 people were injured across the Himalayan nation.

A landslide killed three dozen people on a blocked highway about 16 kilometres from Kathmandu. The landslide buried at least three buses and other vehicles where people were sleeping because the highway was blocked. Kathmandu had remained cut off all weekend as the three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides.

Workers were able to temporarily open up the key Prithvi highway, removing rocks, mud and trees that had been washed from the mountains.

The home minister announced temporary shelters would be built for people who lost their homes and monetary help would be available for the families of those killed and to the people who were injured by the flooding and landslides.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli was returning home Monday from attending the UN General Assembly meeting and has called an emergency meeting, his office said.