Floods and landslides kill 14 people in Nepal: Police. July 7, 2024

A man carries a member of his family during the flood in Kathmandu. [Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto via Getty Images].

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Floods and landslides kill 14 people in Nepal: Police.

Torrential rains in Nepal, which have caused floods and landslides, have killed at least 14 people across the country, and disaster teams are searching for nine missing people, police said on Sunday.

Floods in neighboring India, as well as in Bangladesh, have also caused widespread damage and affected millions of people.

"Police are working with other agencies and locals to find the missing people," Nepalese police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki told AFP.

The dead and missing are in various locations.

Monsoon rains from June to September cause widespread death and destruction every year in South Asia, but the number of fatal floods and landslides has increased in recent years.

Experts say that climate change and increased road construction are exacerbating the problem.

Parts of Nepal have received heavy rains since Thursday, prompting disaster authorities in the Himalayan country to warn of flash floods in several rivers.

Flooding has been reported in several low-lying districts bordering India.

Last month, 14 people died in Nepal in fierce storms that triggered landslides, lightning, and flooding.

In India, floods have inundated the northeastern state of Assam and six people have died in the last 24 hours, the Assam Disaster Management Authority said on Sunday.

This brings the death toll from the rains since mid-May to 58.

In Bangladesh, downstream from India, the disaster management agency said the floods had affected more than two million people.

Much of the country is made up of deltas where the Himalayan rivers, the Ganges, and the Brahmaputra, wind their way towards the sea after crossing India.

The summer monsoon brings 70-80% of its annual rainfall to South Asia.

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