Five people, including three members of a family, are missing in a landslide at Gumda in ward 5 of Dharche Rural Municipality in Gorkha district, on Sunday.

The landslide triggered by heavy rains swept away an agricultural farm and a house at around 3am. The landslide started from the Nansen Community Forest just above the settlement.

According to the District Police Office in Gorkha, farm owner Jit Bahadur Gurung (37), his wife Kanchhi Gurung (35), his father Sulal Kanchha Gurung (60), Ramesh Gurung (33) and tractor driver Ramesh Pariyar are missing in the nature’s fury. Two others were injured.

“Search is on for the missing people with the help of an excavator. But the rescuers could not locate them till the evening,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Ramesh Kumar Shrestha on Sunday. He said police teams were dispatched from the Barpak and Machakhola police posts to the incident site.

The local people and the security personnel of the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army have been searching for the victims. “The search has been difficult as the debris buried a large area,” said Shrestha.

According to the locals, they heard a bang apparently of the landslide that instantly buried the agricultural farm and another house. “My house is near the landslide. I was woken up by the sounds of some stones hitting the tin roof, and saw that the mudslide had already buried the farm and another house,” said Sanjaya Gurung, a local. “Some workers working at a local hydropower project had been staying in Jit Bahadur’s house. Some of them survived as they could flee on time,” he added.

Thirty-year-old Dilip Gurung and 27-year-old Chham Bahadur Gurung were injured in the incident and were found only in the morning. They sustained injuries while attempting to flee the landslide.

“It is suspected that the people staying upstairs ran away while those staying on the ground floor went missing in the incident,” said Raj Gurung, a local involved in the search operation.

The injured duo were flown to Kathmandu for further treatment. According to DSP Shrestha, the injured were taken to Kathmandu by a chopper of Kailash Helicopter Services. Dilip Gurung, who has multiple injuries, is in critical condition, while Chham’s condition has been reported to be stable. They are receiving treatment at Grande Hospital in Kathmandu, said police.

Meanwhile, landslides and floods disrupted vehicular movements on various roads in different parts of the country on Sunday.

The Dumre-Besisahar and Besisahar-Chame road sections in Lamjung district were blocked for hours. A landslide at ward 6 of Besisahar Municipality blocked the Besisahar-Chame road, which is the only route connecting Lamjung with Manang district and leads to the northern parts of the district.

Transportation resumed in the late afternoon after the security personnel cleared the debris in both the Dumre-Besisahar and the Besisahar-Chame road sections. “Vehicular movement began after repairing the damaged roads,” said Police Inspector Meghnath Chapagain.

Landslides erupted in multiple locations, including Dalal Kshetra, Udipur Bazar, Andheri Khola, and near the Nepali Army Gate along the Dumre-Besisahar road section.

According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, heavy rainfall was recorded in Besisahar, Khudi Bazar, Kunchha, Gharedhunga, and several other areas of Lamjung for three hours starting from 4:30am on Sunday.

Similarly, landslides disrupted two routes connecting Hetauda with Kathmandu. According to the police, the Kanti Highway was obstructed in several areas due to the landslides.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lakshmi Bhandari of the District Police Office, Makawanpur, said they are coordinating with the roads department to resume traffic along the road.

Similarly, the Hetauda-Bhimphedi-Kulekhani road section was also obstructed due to a landslide in ward 4 of Bhimphedi Rural Municipality.

Likewise, the Charikot-Singati road section was blocked due to damage from heavy rainfall.

The Area Police Office at Singati, said parts of the road collapsed and were washed away by landslides. With the obstruction in vehicular movement, communication with the northern region has also been disrupted.

The police said alternative routes in the rural parts are also blocked due to rain, creating difficulties in transportation.