Floods, landslides kill 148 in Nepal

Residents of Nepal's flood-hit capital returned to their mud-caked homes on Sept 29 to survey the wreckage of devastating floods that have killed at least 148 people across the Himalayan republic.

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Deadly rain-related floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity.

Entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were inundated over the weekend, with flash floods reported in rivers coursing through the capital, and highways connecting the city with the rest of Nepal damaged extensively.

Mr Kumar Tamang, who lives in a slum area by a riverbank, told AFP that he and his family had to flee on Sept 28 as water rushed into his shack.

“This morning, we returned and everything looks different,” the 40-year-old said.

“We couldn't even open the doors to our house, it was jammed with mud,” he added. “Yesterday we were afraid that the water would kill us, but today we have no water to clean with.”

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 148 people had been killed across the country, with another 59 still missing.

Home Ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari told AFP news agency that bulldozers were being used to clear several highways that had been blocked by debris, cutting Kathmandu off from the rest of the country.