Nepal flood toll tops 209

Search and rescue teams in Nepal's capital picked through wrecked homes on Monday after waters receded from monsoon floods that killed at least 209 people around the Himalayan republic.

Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change is making them worse.

Entire neighbourhoods in Kathmandu were inundated after the heaviest rains in more than two decades, with the capital temporarily cut off from the rest of Nepal after landslides blocked highways.

Nepal's Home Ministry said 209 people had been killed across the country with another 29 still missing.

"We intensified aerial rescue for people who are sick or still need to be brought to safety," home ministry spokesman Rishi Ram Tiwari told AFP.

Police said at least 35 of those killed were buried alive when earth from a landslide careened into vehicles on a highway south of Kathmandu.

Bulldozers were being used to clear nearly two dozen sections of major roads leading into Kathmandu that had been blocked by debris.

The home ministry said it was working to rescue numerous people who had been stranded on the highways.

More than 400 people were rescued from various districts on Monday