Monsoon disaster toll reaches six, 29 persons go missing

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, June 20: Six people have died in the floods and landslides triggered by incessant rains in different parts of the country, especially in three districts of Koshi Province as of Monday evening. 

According to the Nepal Police Headquarters, a total of six people died in the floods and landslides, of them, one died in Sankhuwasabha, three in Taplejung, one in Panchthar and one in Nuwakot. Of them, five are men and one is a girl. In addition, three persons were injured in Sankhuwasabha, two in Taplejung and one in Panchthar. 

The injured have been taken to local hospitals for treatment. A total of 19 persons are still missing in Sankhuwasabha, three in Taplejung and five in Panchthar, said Nepal Police Spokesperson and Deputy Inspector General Kuber Kadayat. DIG Kadayat said that the search for the missing is continuing.

According to the police headquarters, as of Monday evening at 7:00 pm, 35 houses, 10 sheds, 13 bridges, five industries and two government offices have been damaged by the floods and landslides. 

Similarly, 67 domesticated cattle have died and 97 households have been displaced. 

In addition, the police have been working to shift various households in the safe places in different districts that are at risk of floods and landslides.

Father, son die in Taplejung landslide 

Likewise, a father and son of the same family died in a landslide on Monday morning in Taplejung. 

Sixty-seven-year-old local Keshar Bahadur Rai and his son Suresh Rai, 36, were buried to death in the landslide at Mukubhanjyang in Sidingwa Rural Municipality-6 Mehele, of the district.

According to Kushram Karki, police inspector for the District Police Office, Taplejung, the father and son of the Rai family were killed in a landslide when they were heading towards Mukubhanjyang from their home. The landslide that fell above from the site caved them in.  

Similarly, 45-year-old Raj Kumar Rai was seriously injured in the same landslide. Police Inspector Karki said that injured Rai was rescued by a Nepali Army helicopter and was taken to B&C Hospital in Jhapa for treatment.

It has been raining continuously since last Thursday in Taplejung and the number of deaths in the district has reached three and three others have still been missing. 

Chief District Officer Gomadevi Chemjong said that the search for the missing persons is continuing.

Meanwhile, locals residing in and around low coastal areas of the river belt have been asked to be alert as the water level in the Tamor, the Arun and the Kankai rivers has been increasing for the next three days. 

As mentioned by the Nepal Flood Information Centre, the water level of the Kankai and Tamor rivers is forecast to be around the alert level.

Residents around the river have said that they have received an SMS of the alert. The water level is increasing in the Domukha area of the Kankai river in Jhapa. Most of the municipalities in Jhapa district are at risk of flood.

Similarly, Nepali Army has said that it has rescued over dozens of people trapped in the natural calamities and kept in safe place after their aerial rescue.

(Within inputs from Dhyan Kulung, Bishnu Pokharel, Jhapa, Chandra Pandak, Taplejung, and Radha Luintel, Panchthar)