Chief District Officer Damaru Prasad Niraula said seven men, eight women and six children died in landslides at Liwang, Santhakra, Khokling, Thinglabu and Lingtep VDCs.  The landslides buried a number of settlements in the western part of the district where several structures that had been weakened by the recent earthquakes were swept away.

Locals in Thinglabu said that a massive landslide swept away seven houses while 13 other houses are at high risk.

According to DSP Shantiraj Koirala, six people died in Liwang and four each died in Thinglabu and Lingtep, while three villagers were killed in Khokling and two in Santhakra.  

Eight people, who sustained serious injuries in the landslides, were airlifted by Nepal Army helicopter. Three people with critical injuries were taken to BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, while the others are receiving treatment at Taplejung District Hospital.

The local administration said that security personnel from Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force reached the affected area and were involved in rescuing the victims.

Meanwhile, flood in the Mewa river in the area swept away Ramduwari Bazaar at Khamlung VDC. The river was blocked for a few hours but later gushed out bursting the artificial dam created by a landslide. Six houses were swept away by the flood in the area. There were no human casualties as the locals fled to safer place.

Similarly, floods swept away two suspension bridges in Dhungesangu, Thinglabu and Phakumba area, and caused damage to the powerhouse of Lawakhola Mini Hydropower Project in Thukima. About 70 households at Dhobhan Bazaar, an important trade centre in the district, are now at high risk of landslides. Most of them have been relocated to Taplejung Municipality-1.