Hundreds Missing as Nepal-Tibet Flood Death Toll Rises

KATHMANDU: A massive wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border between Nepal and China’s Tibet on Wednesday, causing catastrophic flooding in Nepal. The disaster killed scores of people and left hundreds of tourists missing.

Verified videos showed people being swept away by the powerful floodwaters. Authorities on both sides warned that the death toll could rise and that the damage could be extensive.

Homes, roads and power projects were destroyed in Nepal. In Tibet, officials reported “major casualties” after a mudslide struck a border crossing in Gyirong county.

Survivor Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, said a huge wave of mud rushed toward his home and swept away his wife as he tried to take her to safety.

“Four or five hours later, a helicopter came to rescue me. My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She’s gone.”

Another survivor said he escaped by holding onto a mango tree while watching the house where he had been working disappear.

COLLAPSE MAY HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED BY QUAKE

Nepali officials initially said an earthquake may have caused part of a glacier to collapse, triggering the floods. The USGS later said the tremor recorded at the time was caused by glacial rock and ice collapsing into the valley.

Nepal police said 157 bodies had been recovered by Wednesday evening. Officials also said more than 400 tourists were missing, including around 340 foreigners.

Nepal tourism officials said 133 of the missing tourists were Indian pilgrims. Others included 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 24 Canadians.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said U.N. teams and partners were sending supplies and personnel to help communities affected by the disaster.

The US State Department said it was aware of Americans affected by the floods and was closely monitoring the situation. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also described the floods as “absolutely devastating.”

The affected region is located along a popular route to Kailash Manasarovar in Tibet, which attracts hundreds of Hindu pilgrims every year.

China’s state broadcaster reported three deaths and 265 people missing in Gyirong, adding that the figures were still being verified.

South Korea separately said eight of its nationals working at a hydropower plant were missing.

FIXED CAMERA FOOTAGE SHOWS PEOPLE FLEEING

Security footage from the Chinese side of the Nepal-Tibet border showed people running away shortly before a huge torrent of rock, mud and water destroyed buildings and vehicles.

The German Research Centre for Geosciences said a 4.4-magnitude earthquake occurred about seven minutes before the time shown on the security footage.

In Nepal’s Nuwakot and Dhading districts, families gathered outside a Nepali army training centre that was being used as a base for helicopter rescue operations. Police were recording the names of missing people as residents searched for information about their relatives.

Many areas remained without electricity after hydropower infrastructure was damaged. Homes, trees and vehicles were buried or submerged in mud.

An initial analysis of satellite images indicated that an ice and rock landslide triggered a debris-filled flood in the Lhende River, about 20 km northeast of the Nepal-China Rasuwagadhi border crossing.

Rescue helicopters were unable to land in some affected areas of Rasuwa district, including Syapru Besi and Timure, as floodwaters continued to flow above their normal levels.

Television footage showed collapsed houses, floating vehicles and a metal bridge being swept away.

“There is devastation everywhere we look,” Tula Bahadur BK, a health worker in Rasuwa, told Reuters. “The settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my own relatives are missing.”

GYIRONG PORT AFFECTED

China’s official Xinhua news agency said the mudslide hit the Gyirong port, damaging roads, communications and power links in the Shigatse region near the border.

A rescuer told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV that efforts to contact the Gyirong border port had so far failed. A preliminary drone inspection showed that all roads leading to the crossing had been “completely destroyed”.

The floodwaters came down from an area estimated to be nearly 2,000 metres above sea level. Flood warnings were issued in India’s northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which border Nepal and have rivers flowing from the mountains into the plains.

Authorities in Bihar said around 5,000 people had been evacuated from six districts, with plans to move between 10,000 and 12,000 people to safety.