At least eleven people have been confirmed dead, with one individual still missing, after a series of devastating landslides struck mountainous villages in eastern Nepal on Sunday. The disasters were triggered by intense rainfall that has been lashing the region.
According to local official Bholanath Guragai, the casualties occurred in two separate incidents in the Illam District. In one tragic event, six members of a single family lost their lives as a landslide buried their home while they slept. A second slide in a nearby village claimed five more lives.
Rescue operations are facing significant challenges due to the adverse weather. Continuous rainfall and debris have washed away or obstructed many access roads, severely hampering ground efforts. Guragai stated that air support, including helicopters for medical evacuations, is urgently required to assist the injured and reach stranded communities. Reports indicate that several other villages within the district have also been affected by landslides.
The crisis comes during a critical travel period, as hundreds of thousands of Nepalis are returning to the capital, Kathmandu, following the conclusion of Dashain, the nation’s largest festival. This mass movement has led to severe traffic congestion on major highways, which were already compromised. Authorities had proactively closed key roads and suspended domestic flights on Saturday as a safety precaution in response to government-issued severe weather warnings for eastern and central Nepal. While flights resumed on Sunday, many highways remain blocked by landslides or pre-emptive closures.
Although some flooding was reported in low-lying areas of Kathmandu, no major damage or casualties have been recorded in the capital. The federal government has declared a national holiday extending through Monday due to the severe weather.
This disaster echoes a similar tragedy from the previous year when landslides and flooding during the same season resulted in hundreds of casualties. The recent downpour arrives as Nepal’s annual monsoon season, which runs from June through mid-September, typically draws to a close.