Nepal urges villagers to evacuate after flood triggered by landslide

Nepali authorities urged villagers on ​Sunday to move to ​safer places after a flood in a river in the central part of the country swept away several houses and infrastructure, but there were no reports of any casualties.
A dry landslide in Chumnubri village in Gorkha district, about 100 km (62 miles) west of ⁠Kathmandu, blocked the Budhi Gandaki River, leading to downstream flooding, authorities ⁠said.
The Budhi Gandaki is a tributary of the Trishuli River, downstream from another tributary where a glacier collapse caused a catastrophic flood in August that killed 1,457 ‌people, with thousands still missing.
'We have asked villagers ​living along the ⁠river banks downstream to evacuate and remain safe,' said ​Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, the Gorkha district's ‌most senior bureaucrat.
Mishra said about a dozen houses and two suspension bridges had been swept away, ​and a hydroelectric project camp was damaged by the flood.
The flooded river carrying muddy sludge is rising and has washed away a highway bridge connecting Gorkha with the neighbouring Dhading district, said Dharam Raj Uprety, chief of the National Disaster ‌Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
The army rescued six people from Jagat ​who were facing the risk of a landslide, Prime Minister Balendra Shah ​said ‌in ⁠a social media post. Another 18 workers at the hydroelectric project that had its camp was damaged escaped to safety, Uprety said.
National disaster authorities alerted ​people living along the river in the Gorkha, Tanahun, ⁠Chitwan, East ​Nawalparasi and West Nawalparasi districts about the flood.
'Please help ensure that people in at-risk areas are moved to safe locations in time and assist search and rescue operations as needed,' the National Disaster Risk Reduction ​and Management Authority said in a social media post.
Officials said ​army and police rescue personnel had reached the area and were also monitoring the situation from a helicopter.