Rescuers search for missing people in Nepal following flooding and landslides that killed 224

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers in Nepal searched Tuesday for two dozen people still missing and tried to recover the bodies of those killed in weekend flooding and landslides that left more than 200 dead.

The disaster came just ahead of the country’s biggest festival Dasain, which begins on Thursday, and roads were busier than usual as people returned home to celebrate with loved ones. The damage to roads is likely to hamper travel plans.

The deaths climbed to 224 and the injured to 158 while rescue efforts were underway to look for 24 others, said the government’s chief secretary Eak Narayan Aryal on Tuesday.

Aryal said the flooding damaged 16 hydroelectric power plants, lowering electricity production in Nepal, while 18 other projects under construction were also damaged.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli’s administration has been heavily criticized for its slow response to the crisis, particularly after a landslide hit several vehicles stranded for hours just 16 kilometers (10 miles) from the capital, Kathmandu, killing about three dozen people.

Oli told reporters the government would continue to look for those missing and help the thousands impacted.

“We were prepared for a disaster but could not predict it would be of this big scale,” he said.

As the weather improved, workers started clearing the highways by the mountains after being blocked by landslides. Sections of several other highways next to raging rivers were washed away and repairing them is expected to require time and effort.

Of the 37 highways damaged, only nine have so far reopened for traffic.

Police and soldiers have been assisting with rescue efforts, while heavy equipment was used to clear the landslides from the roads. Schools and colleges were told to shutter until Tuesday until clean-up efforts were concluded and to allow students to recover.

The flooding was caused by heavy rain which arrived at the end of Nepal’s monsoon season that usually begins in June and ends by mid-September.