NEPALESE authorities on Sunday rescued more than 80 people, including nine foreign nationals, while five others remain missing after a flash flood in the Budhi Gandaki River swept away houses, bridges and also damaged hydropower projects in the Gorkha district. The disaster struck roughly a month and a half after the devastating Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river floods on August 26. Nepal is still recovering from the devastating flood along the mountainous Nepal-China border that left more than 1,400 people dead and thousands more missing. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said 82 people, including nine foreign nationals, have been rescued by four helicopters in Gorkha district. Five people, including two women, remain missing.

 

The floods and landslides have damaged two suspension bridges, two motorable bridges, three hydropower projects and 34 cow sheds, the NDRRMA said, adding that 45 houses were completely damaged while 27 houses suffered partial damage.Three vehicles were swept away, it said. The authorities have mobilised over 700 security personnel, including 171 Nepal Army soldiers. They have delivered tents, blankets, mattresses, sleeping bags and kitchen sets to the affected areas. The flood swept away houses in Salleri, Paiyuka and the riverbed at Jagat, as well as a suspension bridge connecting the ward, Ram Kumar Gurung, ward chair of Chumnubri Rural Municipality-3, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post. The flood may have been caused by the failure of a temporary blockage created by a landslide near Chumchet in Gorkha district, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said in a statement, citing preliminary accounts from Nepal’s authorities.