11 dead, two missing in heavy rains, floods

KATHMANDU, JUL 12 -
Swollen rivers, streams and ponds have claimed at least 11 lives across the country in the past four days, while two persons are reported missing . The victims were swimmers and driftwood collectors taken unawares by the raging flood waters caused by heavy rainfall.

Three schoolchildren of Tamsariya-8 in Nawalparasi district drowned in a local stream on Thursday afternoon. Two of the victims were sisters—13-year-old Alina Kumal and 10-year-old Melina Kumal—and the third one was their 16-year-old cousin, Susan Kumal.

Eight flood -related deaths have been reported in Jhapa, Sunsari, Siraha, Morang and Okhaldhunga districts in the last four days. Police recovered the body of Siva Kumar Rai of Damak-12 on Thursday, four days after he was swept away by a river in Damak while collecting driftwood. Rai’s friend Dhiraj Tajpuriya of Damak-13 and an unidentified man are still missing .

Meanwhile, flood waters continued to ravage residential areas and plantations in the Eastern and Central Tarai districts.

Floods have displaced more than 1,000 people in Jhapa district alone. They are taking shelter in local schools, VDC office buildings and relatives’ houses, said Superintendent of Police Sher Bahadur Basnet. Over 800 houses in the district are waterlogged.

Some displaced families in Morang district started returning home after rainfall subsided on Thursday morning.

More than 500 families are still taking shelter in public spaces and school buildings. Floodwaters have inundated more than 60 houses in five VDCs close to the Indian border in Saptari, with Barmajhiya and Portaha VDCs badly affected. In Banke, flood waters from the Rapti river have inundated Tepari village of Holiya VDC. Around 120 households in the village are at high risk.


Traffic resumes on East West Highway

Vehicular movement resumed along the Pathlaiya-Nijgadh section of the East West Highway on Thursday. A diversion road was constructed to route the vehicles that were stranded after a support pillar of the Dudhaura bridge at Pipara Simara-9 in Bara started sinking on Wednesday. Bara’s Chief District Officer Durga Prasad Pokharel said although they have managed to resume one-way traffic through a diversion through a forest close to the bridge, the road will be impassable during rainfall. He said ensuring smooth traffic along the diversion would take at least one week. More than 10,000 passengers were stranded on the highway after the bridge sank on Wednesday afternoon.


Rockfall kills two in Pyuthan

PYUTHAN: A rock dislodged from a cliff and landed on a moving vehicle near Judapata of Gothibang-1 in Pyuthan district on Thursday morning, killing two passengers and injuring two others. The dead have been identified as Devraj Acharya and Lok Bahadur Khadka, both employees at the Rolpa District Development Committee. The injured were taken to Pyuthan District Hospital for treatment.

(Our reporters in Jhapa, Morang, Sarlahi, Siraha, Nawalparasi, Bara, Pyuthan and Banke contributed to this report)

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