200 INDIANS STRANDED AFTER FLOODS IN NEPAL

Rain in Chitwan district have claimed 49 lives

Kathmandu, Aug. 13: At least 55 people have died and nearly 700 tourists, including 200 Indians, stranded in tourist district Chitwan in central Nepal due to flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rainfall, officials said on Sunday.

More than 100 hotels have been partially submerged in Chitwan due to rains over the past three days. Over 1,000 houses have been inundated in the Parsa district, further south, the Himalayan Times reported.

Of the 700 tourists stranded in Sauraha in the Chitwan National Park, nearly 200 were from India and about the same number from other countries. The rest were Nepalese citizens.

The Rapti, which flows through a large part of Nepal towards the southern plains, flooded human settlements and hotels.

Kathmandu, Aug. 13: Nearly 700 tourists, including 200 Indians, have been stranded in central Nepal’s popular tourist district Chitwan due to flooding triggered by heavy rains that have claimed 49 lives, officials said on Sunday.

Heavy rains have lashed Nepal for the past three days causing flooding and landslides at several places in the Himalayan country. The swollen Rapti river flooded several hotels in the Chitwan Valley, where the country’s first national park is located.

Chief district officer Narayan Prasad Bhatta said four rubber rafts have been sought from neighbouring Devghat to carry out relief operations. Suman Ghimire, chairman of the Regional Hotel Association, said the trapped tourists were being rescued with the help of elephants. The home ministry

4 rubber rafts have been sought from neighbouring Devghat district to carry out relief operations

The trapped tourists are being rescued with the help of elephants The country’s home ministry has been approached for help, said an official

has been approached for help, said a hotelier.

The meteorological department forecast that central and western plains were likely to receive heavy rainfall from this evening. The monsoon, it added, was gradually getting weaker in the eastern region and moving towards the western region. The death toll due to flooding and landslides across Nepal since Friday reached 55, officials said.

Thirty six people have been reported missing, they added. Twenty one districts have been badly hit by flooding and landslides, The Himalayan Times reported, citing the latest data released by the home ministry.

Of the 700 tourists stranded in the Chitwan Valley, nearly 200 were from India and about the same number from other countries. More than 35,000 houses have been partially sumberged, about 1,000 damaged and close to 400 livestock have died due to the flooding, the ministry data showed.

Transportation via the East West Highway, one of the longest in the Himalayan country, has been suspended after a pillar at a connecting bridge was washed away in the flooding.