Rautahat, July 15

The death toll due to floods has reached nine in Rautahat as of today.

The number of people killed increased after four missing bodies in Bagmati and Lalbakaiya and other local rivers were found today.

According to Rautahat District Police Office, four persons including two minors were found dead in different places of the district. Two others are still missing, said police.

Police said Siddhanta Raya Yadav, 2, of Rajdevi Municipality, Sone Lal Sah Sonar, 25, of Rajpur, Rabi Ram, 10, and  nine-year-old Suresh Ram of Gadhimai Municipality had gone missing since July 13.

DSP Nabin Karki said Yadav’s body was found near his house in a ditch. Sah’s body was found on the premises of Border Outreach Post of Armed Police Force in Gaur, while the bodies of the two minors were found in Brindaban Municipality.

DSP Karki said the whereabout of Aananda Devi of Gadhimai Municipality and Ram Pukar of Ishanath Municipality were yet to be known till this evening. Earlier, Gyatri Devi of Yamunamai Rural Municipality, Harendra Raya Yadav of Ishanath Municipality, Birendra Mishra of Durga Bhagawati Rural Municipality, Shiva Mangal Patel and Umesh Raut of Gaur Municipality had drowned in the floods.

As many as 70,000 households have been badly affected while 5,000 houses were damaged due to floods that entered human settlements in Rautahat. DSP Karki said it would take more time to collect the details of destruction as the rural roads were damaged due to incessant rainfall. Displaced flood victims have been sheltering in the local community buildings and schools.