At least 472 people have died in flash floods and landslides in Nepal and Tibet, and more than 1,400 people are still missing after a glacier collapse in the Himalayas.
The death toll from Wednesday’s floods continues to rise, Avisen Danmark reports. Nepalese police said on Friday that at least 469 people have died in Nepal, according to the news agency AFP.
Chinese state media had earlier confirmed three deaths in Tibet, taking the combined toll to at least 472. More than 1,400 people remain missing, among them hundreds of foreign tourists. Euronews, NDTV and The New York Times have reported the same figures, and note that pilgrims on both sides of the border are among the missing.
Several of the missing were hiking in the Himalayas when a wall of water and mud swept through the Lhende Khola river valley in northern Nepal. Homes, bridges and vehicles were carried away, and several villages were swallowed by the water. AFP has described the event as an inland tsunami.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the disaster was set off by a glacier that collapsed in the Himalayas before the landslide. Research cited by international media indicates the lower part of the glacier broke off, releasing an avalanche of ice and rock. AFP notes that climate change has caused glaciers worldwide to melt, increasing the risk of glacial lake floods and glacier collapses.
Chinese authorities warned on Friday of the risk of further flooding. Wednesday’s enormous volumes of muddy water created an artificial lake, which could grow larger because of rain expected over the coming days.
Rescue operation continues on both sides of the border
The warning came as rescue workers pressed on with the search for the many missing. Chinese authorities have mobilized nearly 800 rescue workers, along with tracker dogs, speedboats, satellites and drones, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
The Nepalese army says it is trying to reach 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower plant, the news agency Reuters reports. According to the army, 350 people have already been rescued from the same area.
While rescue teams search the mountain areas for survivors, families are moving from hospital to hospital in the hope of finding relatives. Nepal and China have both resumed their search efforts amid renewed fears of new floods, Avisen Danmark reports.
The floods struck on Wednesday, August 26, in the border region between northern Nepal and Tibet. Nepal Police and Chinese authorities are the sources for the casualty figures cited on Friday, August 28, by international media including Euronews, NDTV and The New York Times.
