India and Nepal face fatal floods

Asia continues to be battered by unrelenting rain started last week as deadly downpours hit India, Nepal, China, Vietnam and Thailand.

More than 70 people have been killed by the floods and landslides that washed away homes, roads and bridges in India's eastern hill region of Darjeeling and neighbouring Nepal, authorities said.

In Nepal, the death toll from floods and landslides rose to 50, with the eastern district of Ilam bordering India recording 37 deaths, a spokesperson for the Police Force said.

Moreover, at least 18 people died in Darjeeling, and several people were still missing, as relief and restoration work got underway, said local government officials in the Indian state of West Bengal, warning that the death toll was likely to rise as details flowed in from remote areas.

The districts of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar were among those affected, she said. In all, 23 deaths have been reported across northern West Bengal state since the weekend, the officials said.

More rain is expected after the weekend's "extremely heavy" downpours in Darjeeling, said H R Biswas, the regional weather head in the state's capital of Kolkata.

Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, suffered from severe flooding as several rivers swamped roads and inundated many houses, cutting the temple-studded capital off from the rest of the country by road.

In southeastern Nepal, the Koshi River – which causes deadly floods in the eastern Indian state of Bihar almost every year – was flowing above the danger level, a district official said.