Floods and landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains continued to wreak chaos across the country, resulting in at least 14 deaths over the past 24 hours. Four people went missing while 12 others were injured in separate landslide incidents.

Baglung, a hill district in Gandaki Province, is the hardest hit by the monsoon turmoil. Eight people, including six children, perished in landslides at wards 9 and 10 of Badigad Rural Municipality on Tuesday morning.

A massive landslide swept away a house belonging to Jog Bahadur Budha at Arupata in ward 10 of Badigad. According to the District Police Office, Jog Bahadur, aged 78; seven-year-old Malati Budha; eight year-old Amal Budha; Sita Pun, 11; Maiti Devi BK; 70; and six-month-old Sita BK, died in the incident. The BK duo were taking shelter in Jog Bahadur’s house when the incident happened.

Superintendent of Police Rishiram Kandel said that Yamalal BK, 14, Manoj Budha, 10, Suman BK, 11, and three-year-old Arush Thapa went missing in the incident. According to him, four people sustained serious injuries in the landslide. The security personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the locals rescued the victims.

A Nepali Army helicopter reached the district to rescue the injured, but the chopper could not land at the affected area due to adverse weather. “The injured were taken to the Primary Health Centre at Burtibang because the helicopter could not land,” said Birendra Budha, chairman of ward 10 of Badigad.

The incident site is around 100 km west from Baglung district headquarters.

Similarly, Bidhan Pariyar, 15, and Ganga Basnet, 24, were buried to death at Balghans in ward 9 of Badigad. The landslide struck them as they attempted to fend off floodwaters near their houses.

In Gulmi, four people died after a landslide buried two houses in ward 1 of Musikot Municipality on Tuesday. Two others were injured in the disaster.

Police Inspector Ram Kumar KC of the District Police Office in Gulmi said 67-year-old Hukum BK, his 46-year-old son Om Bahadur BK, his 66-year-old sister Masuri BK, and Masuri’s two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter Riyansi BK were killed in the incident.

According to Inspector KC, 31-year-old Bishnu BK and his 23-year-old wife Muna BK sustained injuries in the incident. Police rescued them and sent them to Palpa for treatment.

The landslide occurred as the rainwater swept away soil and debris piled up on the roadside. “The track was opened to connect the village with Khar. A dozer widened and levelled the track last year and dumped the soil on the side of the road. The rains swept away the debris, which then buried the houses,” said Ran Bahadur BK, a local.

Similarly in Khotang, an elderly woman was swept away by a rain-swollen stream in ward 4 of Ainselukharka Rural Municipality on Monday evening. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Purushottam Khadka, Padam Kumari Ghimire, 73, went missing after being swept away by the Makhu stream. Her body was recovered on Tuesday morning.

In Kavrepalanchok, a 50-year-old woman died after she fell into a roadside sewer flooded with rainwaters in ward 5 of Dhulikhel Municipality on Tuesday. Police identified the deceased as Bhagawati Bhagdas from ward 3 of Khandadevi Rural Municipality in Ramechhap district. Her body was found floating in a paddy field some 300 metres below.

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains disrupted various highways and road sections. The vehicular movement was obstructed in the Khotang section of the Sagarmatha Highway as the flood damaged road in ward 11 of Halesi Tuwachung Municipality.

Likewise, the BP Highway and Araniko Highway were blocked by landslides in Kavrepalanchok district on Tuesday. Flooding in a local stream in Roshi Rural Municipality of Kavre district obstructed transportation along the BP Highway for a few hours. Similarly, a landslide at Pachaskilo area in ward 8 of Panchkhal Municipality blocked the Araniko Highway.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) has advised halting night bus services in 34 districts for two days.

The authority advised halting the night bus service for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology forecast heavy rainfall on August 6 and August 7.

“Light to moderate rains with thunder and lightning are likely across all provinces on Wednesday; chances of heavy rainfall at a few places of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces; chances of very heavy rainfall to one or two places of Lumbini while chances of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at a few places of Sudurpaschim,” read the bulletin issued by the department.

The department listed Taplejung, Panchthar, Sankhuwasabha, and Terhathum of Koshi Province; Rasuwa, Chitwan, Sindhupalchok, Dhading, Nuwakot, and Dolakha of Bagmati Province; and Myagdi, Baglung, Kaski, Parbat, Syangja, Tanahun, Nawalparasi East, Lamjung, and Gorkha of Gandaki province as the districts at high risks.

Similarly, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Palpa, Gulmi, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Pyuthan, Arghakhanchi, and Rukum West of Lumbini province; and Kailali, Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Doti, and Baitadi of Sudurpaschim province are also in the department’s high-alert zones list.

Issuing a statement on Tuesday, Dijan Bhattarai, spokesperson of the authority, urged security forces in the respective districts to be prepared for relief and rescue work to be executed in those areas in the event of disaster.

According to the data available at Nepal Police Headquarters, a total of 165 people have died in monsoon-induced disasters across the country as of Tuesday evening since the start of the monsoon in Nepal on June 10.

(With inputs from our local correspondents)