Nepal: Four from same family killed in Taplejung landslide

Kathmandu [Nepal]: At least four people from the same family were killed after a landslide triggered by incessant rainfall swept through their house in the Taplejung district in Eastern Nepal on Thursday night.

As per the officials, the landslide hit a house in Phattanglung Rural Municipality-2, Tingdu of Taplejung District, some 580 kilometers from the capital Kathmandu overnight.

"The landslide claimed the lives of four, from the same family as it swept the house overnight. The other two have been injured in due course of disaster. There was incessant rainfall yesterday and the search operation is still underway as two houses were swept by the landslide," Rajan Limbu, the Chairman of the rural municipality told ANI over the phone.

Earlier on Wednesday, Taplejung also reported flash floods damaging a wooden bridge and blocking the Tamor River for a short time which later followed its course of flow averting damages.

The flooding and inundation triggered by heavy rainfall damaged three houses and damaged crops worth millions in the adjoining district of Sankhuwasabha.

Earlier on Wednesday, a flash flood in the local Bhalukhola River swept a motorable bridge disconnecting villages and disrupting traffic flow.

As per Sankhuwasabha officials, there has been incessant rainfall in the district since Monday.

"Continuous downpour has been witnessed every night since Monday. We are assessing the damage to the crops because flooding in the river also has resulted in damage to the crops as it pushed up the level of water in the stream which reached the fields," Dinesh Kattel, Information officer at Khandbari Municipality told ANI over the phone.

As per records from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the Eastern District of Sankhuwasabha recorded 217.8 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours on Thursday and 119.7 mm of rainfall on Wednesday alone.

Eastern Nepal has been witnessing heavy downpours since Monday as monsoon clouds entered the Himalayan Nation ahead of schedule. The monsoon clouds are yet to disperse and move further toward the remaining parts of Nepal which has been reeling under sweltering heatwave.

Most districts, especially in Tarai, have been sweltering under extreme heat for the last several days, with temperatures soaring up to 45 degrees Celsius. Temperatures exceeding 33 degrees Celsius over the past several days have made life difficult in the Kathmandu Valley, with many residents complaining about the heat.

Nepal's Met Office issued a heat wave warning for western and far-western Tarai following the onset of the monsoon. The officials said that they may have to issue more such warnings in the coming days due to the slow progress of the monsoon toward the western parts of the country.

The monsoon season in Nepal generally begins on June 13 and ends on September 23.

Last year, it started on June 14, one day later than the normal onset day.