Nepal landslide toll rises to 19 as hope fades for missing
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The death toll from a landslide in Nepal has risen to 19 after eight more bodies were pulled out from a mud-covered village in north-central Nepal, police said Sunday.
Dozens of villagers in the remote hillside region of Sindhupalchowk district were buried under mud and stone after heavy rains caused a landslide early Friday.
Rescuers dug out 11 bodies on Friday and have been searching for survivors. Helicopters were being used to reach the isolated site after the landslide blocked roads.
Nineteen people remain missing but hopes that anyone had survived the landslip were fading, authorities said.
"Search efforts are under way but we are losing hope of rescuing the missing people alive," local police official Madhav Kafle told AFP said.
The houses hit by the landslide were among those rebuilt after a devastating 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in 2015. Sindhupalchowk was among the worst-affected districts.
The Himalayan nation has been badly hit by landslides and floods, with more than 200 people killed and 75 missing since monsoon rains began mid-June, according to the home ministry.
The number of deadly landslides has increased this year, with experts saying the massive 2015 quake and more road construction could be triggering the deadly slips.