Rescuers in Nepal recovered dozens of bodies from buses and other vehicles that were buried in landslides near the capital Kathmandu, as the death toll from flooding rose to at least 148 with dozens of missings, officials said Sunday. The weather improved on Sunday following three days of monsoon rains, and rescue and clean-up efforts were underway. Kathmandu remained cut off Sunday as three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Multiple bridges were swept away in the deadly floods. Videos of the horrific situation in Nepal also went viral where several iron bridges were seen struggling to survive in the heavy current.
Rescuers retrieved 14 bodies overnight from two buses that were headed to Kathmandu when a landslide buried them. Another 23 bodies were dug out from vehicles Sunday on the same spot, about 16 kilometres from Kathmandu, and workers searched for others who may have been buried.
VIDEO: Bridge collapses in Nepal floods
A statement by the Nepal police said another 86 people were injured in the flooding and landslides while 62 are missing. The death toll was expected to rise as reports came in from villages across the mountainous country.
Residents in the southern part of Kathmandu, which was inundated on Saturday, were cleaning up houses as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people were killed in Kathmandu, which was the hardest hit by flooding.
Police and soldiers were assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. The government announced it was closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.
The monsoon season begins in June and usually ends by mid-September. Weather officials in the capital blamed the rainstorms on a low-pressure system in the Bay of Bengal extending over parts of neighbouring India close to Nepal. Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). "I’ve never before seen flooding on this scale in Kathmandu," said Arun Bhakta Shrestha, an environmental risk official at the centre.
In a statement, it urged the government and city planners to "urgently" step up investment in, and plans for, infrastructure, such as underground stormwater and sewage systems, both of the "grey", or engineered kind, and "green", or nature-based type. The impact of the rains was aggravated by poor drainage due to unplanned settlement and urbanisation efforts, construction on floodplains, lack of areas for water retention, and encroachment on the Bagmati River, it added.
The level of the Koshi River in Nepal's southeast has started to fall, however, said Ram Chandra Tiwari, the region's top bureaucrat. The river, which brings deadly floods to India's eastern state of Bihar nearly every year, had been running above the danger mark at a level nearly three times normal, he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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