Over three dozen killed in monsoon rains in South Asia
July 13, 2019
Kathmandu: Floods and landslides triggered by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 40 people across South Asia in the last two days, officials said Saturday.
The monsoon, which lasts from June to September, causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year.
In Nepal, 30 people have died in floods and landslides after heavy rains hit the country’s eastern region and the southern plains.
Bishwaraj Pokharel, spokesperson for Nepal Police, added that another 11 people were injured and 15 others reported missing.
Three of the victims were killed when a wall collapsed in the capital Kathmandu.
अविरल वर्षाको कारण ३० जनाको मृत्यु , १३३ जनाको सकुशल उद्धार ; प्रभावित स्थानहरुमा २७,८३० प्रहरी कर्मचारी परिचालित :https://t.co/nac5VqnIjh
यात्रामा निस्कनु अघि सडकको अवस्था जानकारी लिनको लागि केन्द्रीय प्रहरी परिचालन कक्ष ०१-४४१२७८० मा सम्पर्क गर्नहुन अनुरोध गर्दछौं । pic.twitter.com/gmZH8HTqc8
— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) July 13, 2019
“Our first priority is life saving rescue and all our resources have been deployed,” Home Ministry official Umakanta Adhikari told AFP.
Police used boats to bring people to safety as rivers swelled, inundating their settlements, while parents were seen wading across chest-high waters carrying children on their shoulders.
Nepal’s weather department issued a high alert for the southern Sapta Koshi river on Saturday and sent SMS warnings to people in the area.
In neighbouring India 11 deaths have been recorded in the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, officials said Friday.
Monsoon floods have inundated 21 districts in Assam, affecting thousands, officials said Friday.
In Bangladesh aid groups were providing rations to Rohingya refugees in the southeast of the country with the UN World Food Programme saying Friday that two people including a child had died.
Last year, more than 1,200 people were been killed across South Asia in monsoon storms with India’s Kerala suffering its worst floods in nearly 100 years.
AFP
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