Heavy rains in Nepal kill 20

Heavy rainfall triggered landslides and flash floods in Nepal, killing at least 11 people, with another nine killed by lightning strikes over the past two days, officials said on Wednesday.

Landslides swept away three houses overnight in Lamjung district, about 125 km (80 miles) west of Kathmandu, overnight, killing four people including two children, district administrator Buddha Bahadur Gurung said.

In Morang district about 500 km southeast of the Nepali capital, flooding has taken the lives of four people since Tuesday, district official Tek Kumar Regmi said.

Another three died in landslides in Kaski in the west and Okhaldhunga in east Nepal.

Hundreds of people are killed every year in floods and landslides, which are common in mostly mountainous Nepal during the monsoon season from mid-June to mid-September.