By DPA
Kathmandu : At least 15 people were killed and three others were missing after landslides hit two districts in western Nepal, officials said Friday.
The worst affected was Ghalichour village in Baglung district, about 200 km west of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, which suffered two separate landslides Thursday night after heavy monsoon rains.
Police said landslides had swept away 16 houses along with their occupants who were sleeping at the time of the tragedy.
“The landslide killed 10 people, including four sheltering in the same house with another three people still missing,” Superintendent of Police Pawan Prasad Kharel said.
At least 16 people were injured in the landslide.
Rescue operations were being hampered by continuing rain and bad weather in the area, Kharel said.
Another five people died when a landslide hit the mid-western district of Bajura, about 350 km west of Kathmandu.
Government officials said five people, including an infant, were buried alive when a landslide in Badevmalathi Village hit their house.
West Nepal is reeling under heavy monsoon rains since Thursday morning.
The country’s meteorological department said areas in western Nepal had received heavy rainfall with some places recording more than 100 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period.
Hundreds of people die in landslides and flash floods across Nepal during the monsoon that runs between mid-June and the end of September.