At least 94 dead in monsoon disasters in Nepal and India

Monsoon floods and landslides have killed at least 94 people across Nepal and India but officials fear that figure could rise sharply as rescuers search for dozens believed lost under mud and in submerged villages.

Authorities upgrade the death toll from flash flooding across landlocked Nepal to 49 as the water kept rising, forcing thousands to flee for higher ground.

“Another 17 are missing. Search and rescue works are underway but the water levels have not declined yet,” says Shankar Hari Acharya, the chief of Nepal’s national emergency centre.

The Red Cross estimated a higher death toll of 53, with dozens more missing and injured, and thousands of homes destroyed.

In neighboring India, a massive landslide in the mountainous north swept two passenger buses off a hillside and into a deep gorge, killing 45 people, an official says.

— AFP