17 killed, three missing in landslides, floods in Nepal

At least 17 people were killed and three have gone missing after heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in several parts of Nepal, an official at the Home Ministry said on Tuesday.

The heaviest casualties occurred in the country's mid-western and eastern regions, said Banshiraj Acharya, the ministry's undersecretary.

A 22-year-old woman, her infant daughter and a neighbour were killed after their mud and stone home collapsed in the mountain district of Rolpa on Monday.

Three people, including a 5-year-old boy, were swept away by a flooded river in Banke district on Monday.

Another 11 people from various parts of the country have been killed in landslides and flooding in the last two days, Acharya said.

‘Six people have been injured and three have gone missing,’ he said.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Indian pilgrims have been stranded in Humla district in north-western Nepal due to bad weather, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said.

The pilgrims were headed to Kailash-Mansarovar, a holy site in the Tibetan region of China popular among Indian Hindus.

 The monsoon in Nepal, which lasts from July to September, causes disastrous landslides and flooding every year, killing hundreds of people.