At least two persons died and three others have gone missing in separate incidents of floods and landslides in Parbat, Baglung and Myagdi districts of Gandaki Province in the past 24 hours.

In Parbat, two persons have gone missing after the flooded Sundare stream swept away a vehicle at Kusma Municipality-8 on Tuesday night. Rajaram Acharya, an engineer working at the Parbat section of the Mid-Hill Highway, and driver Indra Tharu have gone missing in the incident, police said.

“Rajaram and his driver were having snacks at my shop. When the water from the stream came flooding in, Rajaram told me to run before driving off. I ran towards the highway from where I saw the flooded stream sweep away their vehicle,” said Bishwo Shrestha who operates an eatery in Dobilla.

The flooded stream swept away four huts, including that of Shrestha.

Security personnel and local residents recovered the vehicle on the banks of Modikhola some 700 metres downstream from the incident site on Wednesday afternoon.

“We recovered the vehicle at around 4:30pm but there was no one inside it. Search is underway to find the missing duo,” said Police Inspector Pradeep Paudel.

The floods in the Sundare stream also damaged a section of the Mid-Hill Highway. Authorities repaired the damaged road section and resumed one-way traffic from Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, around 100 metres of the Dobilla-Phalebas road section has been badly damaged by floods. It will take a few days to resume transportation along the road section, police said.

The flooded Sundare stream also damaged the infrastructure of the United Modi Hydropower Project operated in Modi Khola area.

“The 10 MW hydropower project stopped production after the flooded Sundare stream damaged the canal of the powerhouse on Tuesday night,” said Bhuwan Adhikari, an employee of the project.

In Baglung, an 18-year-old man of Tarakhola Rural Municipality Ward No. 3 went missing in the flooded Tara stream on Tuesday night.

According to the Area Police Office in Tarakhola, the man had gone to save his goats from floodwaters when he went missing. Forty-one goats were swept away by the stream, police said.

Prakash Gharti, chairman of the rural municipality, said Tara stream was blocked by a landslide above Ghusmeli for some time on Tuesday night. “The stream was swollen because of the blockage,” he said.

In Myagdi, the flooded Khahare stream at Chhiswang in Mangala Rural Municipality Ward No. 5 swept away a 19-year-old woman and her 22-year-old husband, according to the District Police Office in Myagdi. Their bodies were recovered downstream on Wednesday morning, said police.

Vehicular movement along Beni-Jomsom, Beni-Darbang, and Beni-Baglung road sections has also been obstructed because of multiple landslides, according to the District Police Office in Myagdi.

(Prakash Baral in Baglung and Ghanshyam Khadka in Myagdi contributed reporting)