At least 100 people have died and dozens are missing after days of heavy rains

Flash floods and landslides in Nepal have killed at least 100 people across the Himalayan country, officials said.

Dozens were still missing on Sunday after two days of heavy rains inundated the valley around the capital Kathmandu.

Rescue workers on boats are stuck on rooftops. Thousands of homes near rivers have also been flooded, and several highways have been cut off.

Although the rain was expected to continue till Tuesday, there were signs of abating on Sunday.

A government spokesperson said that more than 3,000 people have been rescued so far.

But flash floods and landslides have caused many casualties.

Five people, including a pregnant woman and a four-year-old girl, were killed when a house collapsed under a landslide in the town of Bhaktapur, east of Kathmandu, state media reported.

Two bodies have been removed from a bus buried by a landslide in Thading, west of Kathmandu. 12 people including the driver were said to be on board.

Six football players were killed in a landslide at a training center run by the All Nepal Football Association in Makwanpur, southwest of the capital.

Others have been swept away by the floods. In one dramatic scene, four people were swept away by the Naku River in the southern Kathmandu Valley.

“For hours, they begged for help,” eyewitness Jitendra Bhandari told the BBC. “There was nothing we could do.”

Hari Om Malla lost his truck in water in Kathmandu.

He told the BBC that as the rain intensified on Friday night, water “poured” into the cabin.

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“We jumped out, swam and escaped – but my wallet, bag and mobile had been washed away in the river. I have nothing now. We were out in the cold all night.”

Government spokesman Prithvi Subba Gurung told state-run Nepal Television that water pipes were broken and telephone and power lines damaged by the floods.

State media reported that 10,000 police officers and volunteers and members of the military had been mobilized as part of the search and rescue operation.

The Nepalese government urged people to avoid unnecessary travel and banned night driving in the Kathmandu Valley.

Most highways – including those connecting the Kathmandu Valley to the rest of the country – are blocked in many places.

Air travel was also affected on Friday and Saturday, with many domestic flights delayed or cancelled.

The rainy season causes floods and landslides every year in Nepal.

However, scientists say that rainfall events are intensifying due to climate change.

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, while warmer ocean waters invigorate storm systems, making them more irregular.

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