Okhaldhunga, August 30

Four members of a single family died when their house was buried under a landslide triggered by incessant rainfall in Molung, Okhaldhunga, last night, police said.

The entire family of Purna Bahadur Rai, 50, in Rangadip, Molung Rural Municipality, died in the incident. The deceased have been identified as Purna Bahadur, 50, his sister Mitramaya, 55, wife Dhan Kumari, 40, and three-year-old son Ashish.

The incident occurred at midnight.

“When we reached the site, the house was buried under landslide debris. We then retrieved the bodies from the debris,” said DSP Anantaram Sharma.

“Everything was okay till the evening but as the rain was pouring down heavily later in the night the same caused the landslide which killed them all when they were fast asleep in their house,” said Dinesh Rai, Nepali Congress leader of Rangadip, adding that they learnt about the incident the following morning only.

Meanwhile, locals have blamed the tragedy on the ongoing haphazard road construction in the district.

“As there is a frenzy of road construction activity in the district and heavy equipment is being used haphazardly without thinking a bit about the sensitivity of the place, this activity  is behind the occurrence of landslide and the ensuing deaths,” observed Dal Keshar Malla, a local.

It is important to note that the local government here has allocated 60 per cent of its budget on road construction.