Rescue teams are searching for a landslide in Nepal for 50 missing persons
After a landslide in Nepal, rescue teams searched for over 50 missing people on Sunday. A landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rainfall on Friday had swept away two buses and plunged them 30 meters deep into a river. Five bodies have been recovered so far, according to a police spokesperson. One victim was reportedly from India.
At the site, over 300 rescue personnel were in action, including divers. They were searching in the river and the wreckage of the two buses for the approximately 50 missing people. Initially, authorities had suspected 63 people were missing.
The strong current complicated the rescue efforts. "A body was found approximately 25 kilometers from the accident site," said police spokesperson Dan Bahadur Karki. Mourning relatives waited at the shore. "I've been here for three days now, but the bodies of my grandparents are still not found," said a 23-year-old.
Heavy traffic accidents are common in the Himalayan country. Many roads in the mountains are in poor condition. During the monsoon season, there is an increased risk due to the heavy rains causing landslides and floods.
The emergency services called for additional resources due to the hefty task at hand, given the depth of the river and the large number of missing persons. The cost of the rescue operation was estimated to be quite hefty, further straining Nepal's limited resources during the monsoon-rainfalls. The Nepalese government appealed to international emergency services for assistance, citing the magnitude of the landslide and the number of missing persons.
