By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – The number of people killed in Nepal by floods and landslides caused by heavy rains over the weekend reached 193 as rescue efforts intensified on Monday.

Many of the deaths occurred in the capital Kathmandu, which experienced heavy rainfall and much of the southern part of the city was flooded. Police said in a statement that 31 people were still missing and 96 people were injured across the Himalayan country.

A landslide killed thirty people on a blocked highway about 16 kilometers (10 miles) from Kathmandu. The landslide buried at least three buses and other vehicles in which people were sleeping as the highway was blocked.

Earth workers remove mangled car debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sujan Gurung)

People watch as earthworks remove car debris and bodies of victims trapped under a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sujan Gurung)

Emergency personnel transport the body of a victim who was trapped under a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sujan Gurung)

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Earth workers remove mangled car debris from a landslide caused by heavy rains in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Sujan Gurung)

Increase

Kathmandu remained cut off to traffic throughout the weekend as three highways out of the city were blocked by landslides. Workers managed to temporarily reopen the key Prithvi highway by clearing rocks, mud and trees washed from the mountains.

The Interior Minister announced that temporary shelters would be built for people who lost their homes, and cash assistance would be available to the families of those killed and those injured by floods and landslides.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli was returning home on Monday after the U.N. General Assembly meeting and called an emergency meeting, his office said.

Improved weather allowed rescue and reconstruction efforts to be intensified.

Residents of southern Kathmandu, which was flooded on Saturday, were cleaning their homes as water levels began to recede. At least 34 people died in Kathmandu, which suffered the most from the floods.

Police and soldiers helped in the rescue operation, and heavy equipment was used to remove landslides from the roads. The government has announced that it is closing schools and colleges across Nepal for the next three days.

The monsoon season begins in June and usually ends in mid-September.