Kathmandu - The death toll from separate landslides in two
western Nepalese districts has risen to at least 26 with three people
missing, officials said Friday.
The worst-affected district was Baglung, about 200 kilometres west
of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, where at least 21 people died when
they were swept away by landslides in two different places.
The landslides were triggered by heavy monsoon rains that started
Thursday morning, resulting in the collapse of a mountainside
overnight.
'The landslide struck Ghalichour and Jaljala villages sweeping
away several houses,' Superintendent of Police Pawan Prasad Kharel
said.
'Rescuers have pulled out the bodies of 21 people, while the
search for three more people is continuing,' Kharel said.
The landslides struck in the middle of the night and in the early
hours of the morning, sweeping away houses along with their
occupants. At least 16 people were injured.
Rescue operations were being hampered by continuing rain and bad
weather in the area, Kharel said.
Government officials said more rescue workers were sent to the
area from Kathmandu Friday afternoon.
Another five people also died when a landslide hit the mid-western
district of Bajura, about 350 kilometres west of Kathmandu.
Government officials said five people, including an infant, were
buried alive when their house was hit by a landslide in Badevmalathi
village.
West Nepal is reeling under heavy monsoon rains since Thursday
morning.
The country's meteorological department said areas in western
Nepal had received heavy rainfall with some places recording in
excess of 100 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period.
Hundreds of people die in landslides and flash floods across Nepal
during the monsoon that runs between mid-June and the end of
September.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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