KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Heavy rains triggered flash floods and landslides that killed at least 40 people and displaced thousands in western Nepal, officials said on Saturday.

Twenty people were killed and at least 13 others were missing in Myagdi district, 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the capital Kathmandu, where several houses were destroyed on Friday, district administrator Gyan Nath Dhakal said.

“Rescuers are looking for those who are still missing in Myagdi,” Dhakal said, adding that 50 people had been plucked to safety using helicopters. “Eleven people who were injured in the landslides have been moved to nearby hospitals,” he said.

In neighbouring Kaski district, seven people were killed, said a second government official in the tourist town of Pokhara.

Another seven were killed in Jajarkot district in the far west.

“We are searching for eight people who are still missing,” said Kishore Shrestha, a senior police official, said.

Six people were killed in Gulmi, Lamjung and Sindhupalchowk in central Nepal.

In the southern plains bordering India, the Koshi river, which causes deadly floods in the eastern Indian state of Bihar almost every year, was flowing above the danger level, police said.

Landslides and flash floods are a common occurrence in mountainous Nepal during the June-September monsoon every year.