Floods kill 32 in far-western Nepal

At least 32 people have died till Saturday due to floods and landslides last week in a village of far-western district of Nepal, a member of a rescue team said Sunday.

"A total of 32 bodies have been discovered till Saturday out ofthe people missing due to landslides in Sirsha village of Dadeldhura district, some 800 km west of Kathmandu," Ganesh Raj Bhatta, leader of Nepal Bar Association (NBA), a non-government organization involved in the rescue team, told reporters.

"Even after a week, no government official or security personnel except the NBA and a district Red Cross team were available at the site to rescue victims of the floods and landslides," Bhatta revealed.

As many as 39 people are still missing and feared dead, Bhatta noted, adding, "Mostly women and children have been affected by the deluge."

The inundation and landslides was caused by recurrent torrential downpours in the district in the past few days as the local Sirsha river had swamped different parts of Sirsha village.

Rescue operation led by NBA team and the Nepal Red Cross Society is going on. "It is also assumed that several other peoplecould have died and are feared missing in the flood in the district," he added.

Source: Xinhua