Kathmandu (dpa) - Floods and landslides triggered by incessant monsoon rains wreaked havoc in different parts of Nepal, killing about 100 in the past 96 hours, government officials and media reports said Saturday.
In two districts of Chitwan, south of the capital, and Dang in west Nepal, the death toll exceeded 70 in the past 48 hours, the leading Nepali language daily "antipur" reported Saturday.
The whereabouts of over 20 people in the two districts were still unknown, the report said amid fears they might have been killed by the floods.
In the past 24 hours, 18 people were confirmed dead in separate landslides and floods in different parts of the country, Kantipur FM radio reported Saturday.
Nine members of a family were killed when a landslide on Friday buried a house at Hilekharka village in the Tanahu district, about 150 kilometres west of the capital, district police officials were quoted as saying in the report.
A team of policemen sent on a rescue operation recovered all bodies from the rubble of the landslide Friday.
Government officials said the death toll from floods and landslides this year has crossed 200.
The officials said over 3200 families have been affected by the floods and landslides with over 1500 houses totally destroyed.
Nepalese newspapers Saturday reported that a dozen elephants at the Elephant Breeding Centre in Sauraha, about 90 kilometres south of the capital, went missing in the flooded Budi Rapti River.
National park security personnel rescued two rhinos from drowning in the swollen Narayani River near the same site at Tribeni.
According to preliminary estimates, property and standing crops worth 80 million rupees (about 1.25 million US dollars) have been destroyed by the floods and landslips.
All vehicular traffic into the capital from the south continues to be disrupted because of landslides on the mountain road.
Officials said it would be a month before the roads could be fully repaired and normal traffic resumed.
dpa sb emc AP-NY-08-02-03 0451EDT
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 08/02/2003 04:51:49
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