More than 550 persons were missing and feared dead Sunday following a huge landslide in the Khaptada region of western Nepal, independent Kantipur Television reported. More than 100 houses have been washed away by the landslide that hit remote mountainous villages in Achham district, around 460 kilometres west of Kathmandu. Local authorities said rescue work could not yet begin owing to heavy rain, the report quoted them as saying. They added that the villages could only be reached by helicopter and they could not fly in the bad weather conditions.
