Rescue teams rushed on Thursday to search for hundreds of people missing along the Nepal-Tibet border after flash floods and landslides killed at least 160 people and swept away entire villages.
Surveillance footage from the Chinese side of the frontier showed a massive wall of mud and debris crashing over a several-storey building on Wednesday morning, engulfing it as dozens of people ran for their lives below. The surge swept away buses and cars, reports AFP.
Many of the missing are foreign tourists, officials said. The US Geological Survey said the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a debris flow, engulfing areas downstream.
The surge of water hit villages and towns along the Bhote Kosi and Trishuli rivers.
Resident Raju Bhadel, 56, said he received a distressed call from his brother-in-law.
“They were crying and said their entire house had been swept away. Three family members were rescued, but his brother is still missing,” he said.
Nepali police officers were racing to move families living in flood-risk areas to safety.
Chinese state media reported “major casualties” from a mudslide at the Tibet border hub of Gyirong, saying three people had died and another 265 were missing.
Tibet government officials mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers and 150 vehicles, as well as sniffer dogs and speedboats, to assist the rescue operation, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
In the disaster-hit area, rescuers waded through mud and sludge searching for survivors after floodwaters buried the lower floors of multi-storey buildings.
About 403 tourists — 341 of them foreigners — were unaccounted for several hours after the disaster struck, according to Nepal’s Tourism Ministry.
The missing foreign tourists included 142 Indians, while others were from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea and the United States, the tourism board said.
“Entire villages and market areas have been wiped out,” said David Fisher, Nepal head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The IFRC said it was dispatching emergency supplies, including blankets, first aid kits, stretchers and body bags.
Entire houses swept away
Experts cautioned that a lingering blockage in a river could trigger another flood.
Images shared by Nepali police showed floodwater surging through a river and sweeping away houses in its path, while AFP images showed the top floor of a house protruding from muddy soil.
The Nepali Army was carrying out flights and had rescued scores of people, while residents living near the river in danger zones had been told to relocate.
The US Geological Survey said on Thursday that seismic activity initially reported as an earthquake “was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow” that “caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream”.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday that a “mudslide disaster” on the Nepali side had caused “major casualties and missing people” at Gyirong Port in Tibet.
China’s leader Xi Jinping said “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people”, according to CCTV.
Traffic authorities in Tibet’s Shigatse said roads in the area were “at risk of mudslides and unsafe for passage”.
Monsoon rains from June to September regularly trigger deadly floods and landslides across South Asia.
Scientists say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the region.
Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), warned of the potential for a second flood.
“With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur,” he said.
