SINDHUPALCHOWK, Sept 13: The death toll in the Sindhupalchowk landslide has risen to nine after four more bodies were recovered from the incident site on Sunday afternoon.
Rajan Adhikari, chief of the District Police Office, Sindhupalchowk, told Republica that seven dead bodies were retrieved from the incident site and two more bodies were recovered from Bhotekoshi and Sunkoshi rivers. Adhikari said that the victims have been identified.
Those who lost their lives were residents of three far-flung villages of Sindhupalchowk. Bhaktimaya Shrestha, 63, Takshya Sherpa, 98, and Gyani Maya Pradhan, 42, from local Nagpuje village lost their lives in the landslide.
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Junu Bishwakarma, 23, Sukulal Bishwakarma, 24, and Sandesh Bishwakarma, 8, from Bhirkharkha Tole also lost their lives.
Three more locals from the Newar Tole also lost their lives who have been identified as Sarkini Newar, 60; Dhanlal Newar, 65; and Hiramaya Shrestha, 42.
Twenty-two locals are still missing in the incident that occurred in the Ghumthang area of Bahrabise Municipality-7 on Saturday night, according to the district police chief.
“We have been carrying out rescue operations,” Adhikari said, adding that the exact details of the losses caused by the landslides are yet to be known. As per preliminary estimate, 11 houses have been washed away by the massive landslide in Nagpuje, Bhirkharka and Newar Tole.
The incident took place at around 2:30AM when a huge mound of earth falling from the upper belt jolted three remote villages amid incessant rainfall in the midnight. Locals were in deep sleep when the incident occurred.
A joint team of Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and the Armed Police Force has been deployed to conduct rescue operations.
