At least 34,000 villagers fled their homes after a massive landslide in neighbouring Nepal blocked a river and promtpted warnings of heavy floods downstream, officials said Sunday, according to dpa. The landslide in central Nepal Saturday buried homes and created a large mud dam that blocked the river's flow. At least nine people were killed and more than 100 were believed to be missing. Indian officials issued a flood alert for the north-eastern state of Bihar, where the Sunkoshi River flows from the Himalayan country and is locally known as the Kosi River. State disaster management official Anirudh Kumar said the use of explosives to clear the landslide could release an uncontrollable torrent of water that may inundate hundreds of Bihar's villages, affecting as many as 425,000 people. "We are already seeing a rise in water levels, 34,000 people living along the embankment of the Kosi have been moved to 84 relief camps," Kumar said, adding that officials hope to re-locate 200,000 people across nine districts.
