AKIPRESS.COM - At least 88 people have died and tens of thousands have been displaced after torrential monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides across Nepal and parts of South Asia, CNN reports.

At least 64 people have died in Nepal, with a further 31 people identified as missing and more than 2,500 rescued, the country's Ministry of Home Affairs said Monday morning. Search and rescue efforts have been stepped up, with multiple federal agencies, the Nepalese Army, and paramilitary forces mobilized.

In neighboring India, 14 people have died on the northeastern state of Bihar, which lies on the India-Nepal border. The death toll there is "bound to increase," said Pratyaya Amrit, a senior official at the Bihar Disaster Management Department, as flood waters retreat and reveal the true extent of the damage.

A total of 19.6 million people across 12 districts have been affected by the flash floods, with national and state disaster relief teams deployed in the region, Amrit added.

Already, 16,520 households have been displaced, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rescue teams continue to evacuate residents, pushing inflatable dinghies through flooded streets and helping children and the elderly to safer areas.

The monsoon rains began on Thursday, inundating low-lying towns and villages, with tens of thousands evacuated after major rivers swelled to dangerous levels, according to the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs.