Nepal has ordered a three-day school shutdown following landslides and floods triggered by two days of heavy rainfall across the Himalayan nation, which left at least 170 people dead and dozens more missing, officials announced on Sunday.
The flooding brought traffic and daily activities in the Kathmandu Valley to a halt over the weekend. However, domestic flights in and out of Kathmandu resumed on Sunday morning after at least 150 departures had been canceled.
According to Nepal’s Home Ministry, 170 fatalities have been confirmed nationwide, with an additional 42 people still missing. Among the deceased, 35 were aboard three vehicles that were buried alive when a landslide engulfed a highway south of Kathmandu.
Television footage captured police rescuers in knee-high rubber boots, using picks and shovels to clear mud and recover 16 bodies from two buses swept away by a massive landslide along a key route into Kathmandu.
The capital experienced rainfall levels of up to 322.2mm (12.7 inches), causing the main Bagmati River to rise 2.2m (7ft) above the danger mark, experts reported. There were signs of relief on Sunday morning as rains eased in many areas, according to weather forecaster Govinda Jha. Residents began returning to their mud-caked homes to assess flood damage.
However, authorities expressed concerns for students and parents as
