The government has deployed more than 3,000 security personnel to assist in rescue efforts using helicopters and motorboats.

According to officials, at least 38 people have been killed and 29 others are missing due to floods and landslides in Nepal in the last 24 hours.

More than 3,000 security personnel were deployed on Saturday to help with rescue operations by helicopters and motorboats, as parts of the country, including the capital Kathmandu, were inundated. Authorities are also issuing warnings of possible further flooding in several rivers.

Monsoon rains. From June to September, the Himalayan nation and across South Asia experience widespread death and destruction every year, but the number of deadly floods and landslides has increased in recent years.

“Police are working with other agencies and local people to rescue and locate the missing people,” Basanta Adhikari, a spokeswoman for Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told the AFP news agency.

A truck driver who witnessed the flooding said that when he went out in the middle of the night, the water had reached his shoulders.

“My whole truck is under water,” Harimulla told AFP.

Since Friday evening, all domestic flights out of Kathmandu have been cancelled, affecting more than 150 departures. Kathmandu airport spokesman Ranji Sherpa told Reuters news agency that international flights were still operating.

Police spokesman Dan Bahadur Karki said police were working to clear debris and reopen roads to traffic after the mudslides blocked highways at 28 locations.

Banu Maharjan, a weather forecaster in Kathmandu, said an initial drop in rainfall may not arrive until Sunday, blaming a low-pressure system over parts of neighboring India for this year’s extended rains. .

“Heavy rain is likely to continue till Sunday morning and the weather is likely to clear after that,” Maharjan told Reuters.

In the southeast, the Koshi River, which causes deadly floods in India’s eastern neighboring state of Bihar almost every year, was rising above danger levels, an official said.

According to the area’s top bureaucrat, Ramchandra Tiwari, the river level was still rising.

Experts say. Climate change The frequency and intensity of rainfall in Nepal has worsened.

More than 170 people have died in rain-related disasters this year.