Ten people died and at least two others went missing when a landslide buried four houses at Nagma Bazaar in Tilagupha Municipality Ward No 1, Kalikot, on Sunday morning.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Shyambabu Oliya, the landslide buried the houses belonging to Lali Nepali, Mandir Katuwal, Dhanapati BK and Bir Bherikar. It is still not clear how many people were inside the houses when the disaster occurred.

“A steep hillside behind the bazaar area caved in, burying four houses,” said Chief District Officer Chandra Prasad Gaire. According to him, rescue teams from Manma, the district headquarters of Kalikot, and neighbouring Jumla district reached the incident site for rescue operations. The security personnel, with the help of locals, safely rescued two persons, Arjun Hamal and Punni Shahi, from the incident site. They were taken to Karnali Academy of Health Sciences in Jumla for treatment. They are in normal health, said police.

Nagma Bazaar, which lies in the border of Jumla and Kalikot, is the trade centre of Tilagupha Municipality in Kalikot, and Hima Rural Municipality and Tila Rural Municipality in Jumla district.

“Among the deceased, four were from the same family in Subha Kalika Rural Municipality Ward No. 7 while three other men and a 10-year-old child were from Tilagupha. The other two deceased, whose bodies were recovered later in the evening, were from Surkhet,” said Oliya, who is also the chief of Kalikot police. Search is on to find missing victims, he said.

Security personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been mobilised in the search operation.

The landslide occurred at around 7:30 am. According to Dhaniram Neupane, a local, there were more human casualties in the incident, as people had stayed inside their houses due to the prohibitory order. The district administration had imposed a two-week-long prohibitory order in Nagma Bazaar on August 21 after five locals tested positive for the virus.

The landslide has also disrupted transportation along the Karnali Highway.

The story has been updated.