Kathmandu, Aug 14 (UNI) At least five people died and over 30 went missing in a landslide at Jugal Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchowk district in central Nepal on Friday, a local government official and police said.

"Five people have been taken out dead from the landslide while 33 people are still missing," Xinhua quoted Pratap Lama, chairperson of ward-2 at Jugal Rural Municipality as saying.

Police said the village, where the incident happened, lies in a remote area of the district where there is no road connection, with a walking distance of more than four hours from the nearby police office.

"The incident happened in the early morning on Friday as the falling hill damaged 37 houses in the village over 100 houses. It is the dry landslide as there was no rainfall in the area," said Lama.

"After the incident, five injured persons have been airlifted to nearby heath centre and capital Kathmandu," Superintendent of Police Prajwol Maharjan, chief of District Police Office, Sindhupalchhowk, told Xinhua on Friday.

Police said that their personnel and Nepal Army personnel were currently engaged in rescue efforts along with local people.

The police said they were also preparing to take the necessary equipment to the village to remove the landslide and find the missing people.

Sidhupalchowk, sharing a border with China and serves as an important trade route between two countries, appears to be geologically vulnerable to landslides since the deadly earthquake in April 2015.

"Sindhupalchowk sees several landslides every year. Geology is very vulnerable to the landslides," said Maharjan.
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