KATHMANDU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Forty-one people have lost their lives and 257 others sustained injuries in pre-monsoon disasters in Nepal, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said on Friday.

Properties worth hundreds of millions of rupees have been destroyed in the disasters.

"Lightning strikes took most of the lives and caused injuries, followed by fire incidents," Ram Bahadur KC, spokesperson for the authority, told Xinhua.

The authority issued a statement urging the public to remain alert and take precautions.

The pre-monsoon season in Nepal starts in March and runs through May.

As many as 747 people died in 8,915 disasters in the South Asian country from mid-April 2024 to mid-April 2025, according to the authority. ■