Nepalgunj, June 19:

A team of health workers, dispatched to diarrhoea affected areas in the remote northern villages of Kalikot district, has gone missing since the past three days.

Acting chief district officer Omkar Prasad Neupane said they have failed to establish any contact with the seven-member health team.

The team led by Assistant Health Worker at the Kalikot District Public Health Office had left for Khin and Dhaulaha, 50 miles north-west of the district headquarters Manma, on June 16 after receiving information that a diarrhoea epidemic has affected over 300 children since mid-May, Neupane said.

It takes more than two days on foot to reach the affected areas from the district headquarters and there are no communication facilities there.

“At least 1,200 children might have died due to diarrhoea and related diseases at Khin and Dhaula village development committees since mid-March,” the acting chief district officer quoted the locals as saying.

He also said that another team would be dispatched soon if the first team failed to come into contact.