Nepal floods kill at least 85, raise cholera fears

Rescuers in Nepal struggled to retrieve bodies Sunday amid fears of a cholera outbreak after monsoon rains swept away houses, killing at least 85 people and stranding thousands more. Torrential rain last week led to multiple landslides and flooding, leaving a trail of death and destruction in the Himalayan nation. As the weather cleared Sunday, improving visibility after three days of incessant rain, army officials ran helicopter sorties to evacuate some 20,000 people stranded in badly-hit western districts, said national disaster management chief Yadav Prasad Koirala. Cholera is spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated with human faeces. As water levels slowly recede, rescuers have started moving people from their damaged homes into temporary shelters, but large areas remained submerged, preventing helicopters from landing so workers can search for 113 people still missing, Koirala said, according to AFP.