The death toll in a landslide that occurred at Kushma Municipality Ward No. 3, in Durlung, Parbat on Saturday night reached eight on Sunday.

According to Parbat police, bodies of three victims were recovered on Saturday night while the bodies of the remaining five deceased were recovered during the rescue operation conducted on Sunday.

“Search is under way for one more still missing in the landslide,” informed Parbat Police DSP Bishwaraj Adhikari, who is at the incident site which is some 15 kilometres north of district headquarters Kushma.

The landslide occurred at a settlement near Kafalchaur Secondary School during heavy rainfall on Saturday night. The landslide started from the Raniban Community forest and swept away a roadway some 30 metres below before burying the houses in the settlement.

Following the natural disaster, teams from Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army have been conducting search and rescue operations.

“The rescue team that had reached the incident site on Saturday night returned at 2 am as it continued raining,” said Chief District Officer of Parbat, Shambhu Prasad Regmi. “The rescue operation was affected by the rainfall that lasted all night.”

On Sunday, the search resumed from 6am and is still underway with the help of excavators.

Kushma Municipality Mayor Ram Chandra Joshi informed that the rescue team is struggling to recover the bodies of the deceased as the landslide has buried entire houses.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.