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KATHMANDU (Nepal) — Landslides set off by heavy rain struck several villages in Kaski, a popular tourist area in western Nepal, killing at least 24 people, a senior local official said yesterday.

At least 17 other people were missing, and the death toll could rise, said the official, Krishna Bahadur Raut. Many houses were buried, he said.

“Rescuers are trying to pull out more dead bodies from rubble,” said Raj Bahadur Gurung, a resident of Lumle, a village that was struck. Gurung said that entire families had been lost.

A large number of soldiers, police officers and villagers had been engaged in rescue efforts since early yesterday morning, said another Kaski official, Taranath Adhikar. Officials said bridges that had been swept away and that roads were blocked.

Landslides are common in Nepal during monsoon season, which lasts from June until September. Officials fear that the effects could be worse this year because of the earthquake that struck Nepal in April, killing more than 8,000 people and, according to geologists, making parts of the country’s mountainous terrain more unstable.

Ranjan Kumar Dahal, an engineering geologist at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, said the landslide should be a “wake-up call” for the government, which he said should install security measures like early-warning systems in view of the likelihood of more destructive landslides this season. — nytimes.