Rescuers are desperately searching through rubble for survivors after the natural disaster hit the western district of Kaski in the foothills of the Himalayas this morning.

At least 30 people died and more than 30 people are still missing after the landslides which were triggered by recent heavy rains during monsoon season. Eighteen people have injured in the disaster have been rushed to local hospitals for treatment.

In the village of Lumle, which is just 15 km (9 miles) from the start of popular hiking route Annapurna Circuit which attracts around 100,000 tourists a year, half of all the homes were buried or destroyed by a torrent of mud and rocks.

'I heard a big demonic sound, I thought it was an earthquake,' said Kabi Ram B.K., a 64-year-old farmer, whose daughter and granddaughter were killed when the landslide smashed into their home.

At least 13 bodies recovered from the village were laid out on straw matting, covered by a plastic sheet and rug to protect them from the rain.

Three more people, including an 83-year-old man, were killed in two landslides in the neighbouring districts of Myagdi and Baglung, according to a statement released by authorities. 

While another five were killed in Dudhe, where two bridges connecting the villages has now been washed away, according to village official, Bhesh Raj Parajuli.

Nepal's National Emergency Operation Center said the landslide was triggered by heavy rainfall which is also hampering the rescue effort as the highway linking the village with Pokhara, the main city in the region, remains blocked at several places. Bad weather also prevented emergency helicopters from flying.  

The landslide is the latest disaster to hit Nepal which is still reeling from the impact of the earthquake that killed more than 8,800 people and flattened nearly 600,000 homes in April, leaving thousands in desperate need of food, clean water and shelter.

The monsoon rains are also hampering delivery of relief supplies to mountainous villages devastated by the massive earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation on April 25.

Scores of people die every year from flooding and landslides during the monsoon season in Nepal and just two weeks ago a student was killed when a landslide buried part of a school in the nearby town of Pokhar. 

Last month, 35 people died when a landslide crushed villages in northeast Nepal. 

Three months after a devastating earthquake struck the Himalayan country, Pabitrya Paudyal, 13, is one of a million children who continue to live in areas at high risk of landslides and floods following two devastating earthquakes on April 25 and May 12. 

The destroyed Chaturmala Higher Secondary School where she once went is in Muchowk, Gorkha, one of the districts most severely affected by the two disasters.

Four teachers died in the school, putting them among the almost 9,000 people who perished in the two natural disasters little more than two weeks apart.

Another earthquake victim is who is still struggling to come with the aftermath three months after the disaster upended his life.

(dailymail.co.uk)