Published on 12:00 AM, July 15, 2019

FLOODS IN SOUTH ASIA

Death toll rises to 50

Dozens missing, injured in Nepal; 20,000 being housed in Assam’s relief camps

Floods and landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 50 people across South Asia while dozens more are missing in Nepal, officials said yesterday.

Northeast India has also been hit by floods with 11 deaths recorded as rivers burst their banks.

At least 10 people have died and 4,889 shanty homes have been destroyed since April by monsoon rains in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh's southeast, officials said yesterday.

In Nepal, heavy rains since Thursday have hit several districts, especially in the country's eastern region and the southern plains, affecting thousands.

Nepal police spokesman Bishwaraj Pokharel said 33 people are missing while over 1,100 people have been rescued.

"We have mobilised all resources in the country for search, rescue and relief and have been able to reach all affected areas," Pokharel told AFP.

Authorities said river levels were expected to return to normal from yesterday.

In India at least 11 people have died in the country's northeast, officials said, with some 20,000 being housed in relief camps in badly-hit Assam state.

Bangladesh's meteorological department said the Cox's Bazar district -- home to nearly one million Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar -- has seen at least 58.5 centimetres (nearly two feet) of rain since July 2.