Nepal: flash flood sweeps away houses and bridges, five people missing

A flash flood in central Nepal swept away houses, bridges and parts of hydropower construction sites on Saturday. Five people – two women and three men – are missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA); no deaths have been reported so far. At least 82 people were rescued, including nine foreigners. The worst-hit area is the village of Chumnubri in Gorkha district, about 100 km west of Kathmandu. "What we know is that a dry landslide had blocked the river and then it burst to cause the flood," agency chief Dharam Raj Uprety told AFP.

Reports on the scale of the damage differ: Al Jazeera reported about a dozen houses swept away, AFP some 45. Suspension bridges and a road bridge linking Gorkha with neighbouring Dhading district were destroyed, and hydropower projects were damaged. Army and police teams are deployed, with four helicopters according to AFP. Authorities alerted residents downstream in Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan and East and West Nawalparasi. "We have asked villagers living along the riverbanks downstream to evacuate and remain safe," said Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the district's most senior bureaucrat.

The region is still reeling: in late August a glacier collapse on an upstream tributary triggered a catastrophic flood that killed 1,457 people, according to Al Jazeera. Floods and landslides in late September killed at least 21 more. "Our house is gone, we have no electricity… but there have been no casualties," said a local official of Chumnubri rural municipality. With water levels in the Budhi Gandaki still rising, authorities urged people to stay away from the river and move to safer ground.