Death Toll in Nepal Flooding and Landslides Reaches at Least 100, with Dozens Still Missing

Residents clean mud outside their houses in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
Residents clean mud outside their houses in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Death Toll in Nepal Flooding and Landslides Reaches at Least 100, with Dozens Still Missing

Residents clean mud outside their houses in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
Residents clean mud outside their houses in a flood-affected area following heavy monsoon rains in Kathmandu on September 29, 2024. (AFP)

The death toll from flooding and landslides in Nepal has reached at least 100, with dozens of people still missing.

Police on Sunday morning warned the death toll was expected to rise further as reports come in from villages across the mountainous country.

The weather in Nepal was improved on Sunday and rescue, recovery and clean-up efforts were underway.

Rescuer workers recovered 14 bodies overnight from two buses headed to Kathmandu that were buried in a landslide on a highway near the capital city.

At least one other bus and other vehicles were still buried at the same spot, and rescue workers were digging through rocks and mud trying to find people.

Kathmandu remained cut off Sunday as the main highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Three highways, including the key Prithvi highway that connects Kathmandu to the rest of the country, have been blocked by landslides.

Residents in the southern part of Kathmandu, which was inundated by water, were cleaning up their houses as water levels began to recede.

At least 34 people were killed in Kathmandu, which was the hardest hit by Saturday’s flooding.

Police officers 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 heavy rains, which started on Friday, slowed on Saturday night, but were expected to continue through the weekend.

Last week, the government issued flood warnings across the Himalayan nation warning of massive rainfall. Buses were banned from traveling at night on highways and people were discouraged from driving cars.



Activists Protest Escalating Middle East Crisis outside UK Base in Cyprus

A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
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Activists Protest Escalating Middle East Crisis outside UK Base in Cyprus

A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)
A view of the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus, September 25, 2024.(Reuters)

Pro-Palestinian campaigners protested at the gates of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus on Sunday, accusing Britain of offering tacit support to Israel's ongoing operations in Gaza and elsewhere.

Chanting "Out with the bases of death" a couple of hundred people holding Palestinian and Cypriot flags peacefully protested outside the locked gates of the facility, Britain's largest in the Middle East.

Britain last week sent additional troops to Cyprus to be in position to assist any potential evacuation of nationals trapped in Lebanon, which is reeling from a barrage of Israeli air strikes which culminated in the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday evening.

The UK has two military bases on Cyprus, a former British colony. RAF Akrotiri has been used in the past as a staging point for airstrikes against Houthi militias in Yemen in retaliation for attacks on Red Sea shipping that the Iran-backed group says is a response to the war in Gaza.

"This is an issue of independence and sovereignty for Cyprus," said Peter Iosif, a member of the Cyprus Peace Council, an organizer of Sunday's demonstration. "At this time it becomes even more obvious how the British bases are acting against the will of the Cyprus people," he said.

In response to the protests, a British bases spokesperson said: "No RAF flights have transported lethal cargo to the Israeli Defense Forces."

"In addition, it is standard practice for the UK Ministry of Defense to routinely authorize requests for (a) limited number of allies and partners to access the UK's air bases. Such activity must be in line with UK policy for evacuation and humanitarian purposes only."