Catastrophic flash floods and mudslides triggered by a glacial collapse along the Nepal-Tibet border have left at least 389 people dead and nearly 1,400 missing. Rescue teams continue searching treacherous river valleys as authorities warn that a newly formed barrier lake remains at high risk of bursting.
Glacial Collapse Unleashes Torrent Across the Himalayas
A catastrophic flash flood swept through central Nepal and Tibet following a sudden glacial collapse on Wednesday. Surveillance footage from the Chinese side showed a massive wall of freezing water and mud wiping out towns under a torrent of sludge, engulfing homes, smashing bridges and dams, and sweeping vehicles away like toys on both sides of the border. It gouged a path nearly 170 kilometres (105 miles) through Nepal, experts said, hitting villages and towns on the path of two rivers — Bhote Koshi and Trishuli. Videos from Wednesday’s disaster showed a massive wall of water crashing down on the border as people tried to flee. Trucks were upended and houses, roads and power plants swept away in Nepal. The disaster was triggered by a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday. A torrent of water, mud and debris swept downstream through central Nepal, devastating towns and villages and washing away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges. Several hydropower projects were also damaged. Survivors described chaotic scenes as the torrent descended. Keshav Prasad Baral described the event. Another man from East London says his sister was “really excited” to go on her first pilgrimage, but has now been out of contact.
Casualties Mount as Search Operations Sweep Downstream
Rescue teams using heavy machinery dug through mud and debris in Nepalese towns devastated by a flash flood, as hopes of finding survivors faded and officials worked to reduce the risk of fresh flooding. The death toll from the floods and landslide on the Nepal-China border has risen to 332, the BBC reports. More than 900 people are missing, and search and rescue operations are continuing. In an update on Thursday evening, Nepal Police said 389 bodies had been recovered, while the number of people injured and rescued had risen to 466, APA reports citing BBC. The confirmed death toll in Nepal was at 389 people, with almost 1,000 more missing there and in neighbouring Tibet, near where a glacier collapse on Wednesday morning sent a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris cascading through Himalayan mountain river systems.
The death toll from the massive flash floods in Nepal and Tibet has risen to 392, while 1,468 people remain missing on both sides of the border. Of the 392 deaths, 389 were reported in Nepal and three in neighbouring Tibet. Nepal Police said 910 people remain missing in the country, while authorities in Tibet have reported 558 missing.
Efforts to locate those missing – including hundreds of people from India, the US, UK, Australia and Canada – have been complicated by the destruction of dozens of bridges and almost 40km of roads in the mountainous region popular with trekkers and pilgrims. Rescue teams reported finding bodies hundreds of miles downstream from the disaster zone in the Chitwan district of Nepal, near the Tibetan border. Dozens of injured people were also brought to medical centres.
More than 1,300 people, including more than 667 foreigners, remain missing.
Barrier Lake Risks Triggering a Second Disaster
The international community was scrambling to get aid into flood-stricken parts of Nepal and Tibet on Thursday as authorities warned that a lake formed at the site where the deadly torrents occurred was rising and at risk of bursting. Rescuers are searching for nearly 1,400 people, most of them tourists, who are missing after the catastrophic flash flood which thundered down valleys, obliterating entire villages and killing at least 389 people.
The figures are likely to change, which is not uncommon after a major disaster. Double-counting of dual nationals, matching bodies with people listed as missing, and the chaos of a calamity can all contribute to fluctuations both upwards and downwards in the figures. The exact sequence of events is still unclear, but on that morning, a tsunami-like wall of freezing water and mud wiped out towns under a torrent of sludge, engulfing homes, smashing bridges and dams, and sweeping vehicles away like toys on both sides of the border.
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