Chitra Kumari and her daughter were rescued by Kumari’s husband from the flooded Melamchi river on July 15 but he could not save himself.

“We were at the farm at Kiul bazaar when the flood hit. My husband was trying to steer us towards safety. He asked me and our daughter to start running. He was running towards us when he disappeared in the floods,” said Kumari, a resident of Churetar in Helambu Rural Municipality Ward No. 2.

Her husband is still missing.

Nila Bahadur Khadka, another resident of the same ward, is waiting for news of his mother who has also gone missing in the floods from Kiul area.

“I go to the river every day in search of my mother. I hope to find her soon,” said Khadka.

According to Sorbang Tamang, a local resident of Helambu Ward No. 1, at least six individuals from the Halde area who work in various fish farms are missing in the flooded river.

“Workers at the fish farms save many lives by warning villagers of floods. But many have gone missing in last week’s floods. I was one of the lucky few who survived when the floods hit the farm in Kiul,” said Uttam Mani Bhandari, a fish farm operator in Helambu Ward No. 2.

Last week, continuous rainfall had raised the water level in the Melamchi river, which inundated the Melamchi Bazaar area and caused massive damage to the surrounding settlements.

“Until Wednesday, 20 people have gone missing and five individuals have died in Melamchi floods,” Superintendent of Police in Sindhupalchok Rajan Adhikari told the Post. “More than 500 security personnel from the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police have been mobilised to search for the missing people.”

Around 600 people in Melamchi and 300 in Helambu, which lies upstream, have been affected by the flooding, according to the District Administration Office in Sindhupalchok.

According to the District Police Office, the raging river swept away eight resorts, two motorable bridges and six suspension bridges from Helambu to Melamchi Bazaar. More than 150 houses were inundated, displacing hundreds of people.