At least 165 people have died and nearly 1,400 remain missing after catastrophic flash floods struck communities along the Nepal-Tibet border, with rescue teams continuing to search for survivors. The disaster struck on Wednesday after a glacial collapse triggered a massive surge of mud and rock along the Lhende Khola river, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi.
The floods swept through Himalayan communities, destroying homes and cutting off roads in an area popular with trekkers and pilgrims travelling between Kathmandu and Lhasa. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 826 people were missing in the country, including nearly 600 foreign nationals.
In Tibet, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported 558 people missing in Gyirong county, including 260 foreigners. Three deaths had been confirmed there by Thursday morning, while two villagers had been rescued. Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle warned that the death toll was likely to rise as search operations resumed and rescuers recovered more bodies.
Large numbers of foreign tourists and pilgrims are among those missing in Nepal. Tourism board spokesperson Sunil Sharma told the Associated Press that 133 missing people were Indian pilgrims travelling to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a site considered sacred by Hindus.
He also listed 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 24 Canadians among the missing. Reuters, citing police and tourism officials, gave a different breakdown, reporting 177 missing Indian tourists, 63 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians.
Rescue operations were continuing across the affected areas as authorities searched for survivors and assessed the scale of the destruction.
