Fresh landslides, heavy rain kill about 30 in Nepal, strand trekkers

Another wave of landslides and heavy rain has killed about 30 people in Nepal, as the Himalayan nation reels from August's catastrophic flooding that left 1,400 people dead and thousands more missing.

The national disaster management authority said more than 1,900 families have been affected since late last week, with more than 240 homes damaged. Roads, buildings and bridges have also been swept away, reports BBC.

Hundreds of trekkers on the Annapurna Circuit, crucial to Nepal's economy, have had to cut short their hikes to reach safety. Many have been helicoptered out of Manang and Mustang districts from a hiking circuit that usually takes up to three weeks to complete.

Communities across several parts of Nepal are mourning their loved ones.

Speaking from a damp blue tent in Battar, a town north-west of Kathmandu, Buti Tamang told BBC Nepali, "We used to live in a hut, but now there is nothing. We have lost so many of our relatives."

"Now it is raining and the tent leaks, so we've been facing a difficult situation. We have nowhere to go," said Ramesh Ghale, who also had to flee his home.

Several trekkers and their guides said their journeys back down the mountains had been treacherous, taking up to three or four days as they navigated collapsed roads and swept-away bridges.

Jake Stacy, a 21-year-old from Suffolk, found himself stranded with his guide in Yak Kharka, upper Manang, due to heavy snowfall last week. He decided not to continue to the Thorang La pass, the highest point of the circuit.

"We made our own paths on mountain slopes," he said after returning to base camp in Pokhara on Tuesday night. "It was quite steep and we were clambering because there was river below… It was very muddy and very wet."

"Many trekkers were helicoptered out," he added.

Australian Andrew Graham and his guide Prem KC said they had to cross more than 15 landslides after deciding to return from Manang village. "A few of them were quite dangerous, the residual risks have grown now."

The two became stranded after reaching Chame, which had been evacuated due to the risk of landslides, and had to spend a night in the jungle, Graham said.

A massive landslide has partially blocked a river flowing through Chame, creating a temporary lake that has inundated houses and a key bridge. Authorities have been trying to release the water using excavators for the past three days but have had little success, locals told the BBC.

Meanwhile, trekking guide Tse Ring Doma said she and her group had to cross 28 landslides. The mental stress was more difficult than the physical challenge, she said, given the fresh memory of last month's enormous disaster.

"Even thunder would make us run and come out to see if anything was coming our way," she said.

Her client, Norwegian Ellen Wahlström, said visitors were fortunate as they would only have to leave some of their belongings behind, while locals risked losing their homes and land. She added that authorities had been clearing many of the landslides "surprisingly fast".

While road damage in Manang has been serious, with several bridges swept away and communications down in some areas, no one had been killed in the trekking region, chief district officer Mukti Prasad Khanal said.

However, four bodies have been recovered and 12 people remain missing after an avalanche near the base of Himlung Peak, close to the border with Tibet.

A representative of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project said about 700 trekkers were still waiting in Pokhara to embark on the Annapurna Circuit.

"We have been holding back all these people who want to go to the Annapurna Circuit trek, although we are under pressure from the trekking industry to announce the route open," he said.

Indian visitors who often travel to the ancient temple Muktinath on Hindu pilgrimage had been asked to fly from Jomson to Pokhara instead of driving, due to a road being cut off, he added.

Most of the old trekking trails on the Annapurna Circuit have been unused in recent years following the introduction of roads, except for small sections in Manang and Mustang districts.

Now, however, operators say many trekkers have been using the abandoned paths to return as the main roads have been washed away in parts of the circuit.