A glacier-triggered flash flood along the Nepal-Tibet border has killed at least 98 people and left more than 400 missing, including dozens of foreign tourists.
A torrent of mud, water and debris slammed into the Himalayan border region between Nepal and Tibet early Wednesday, killing at least 98 people and leaving more than 400 missing in one of the worst disasters to hit the area in years. The flood burst from a river that runs along the China-Nepal frontier, sweeping away homes, roads, bridges and power plants on the Nepalese side. Authorities on both sides of the border warned the toll could climb as rescue crews struggle to reach cut-off valleys during the monsoon season.
The surge tore through settlements in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, where video broadcast on Nepalese television showed crumbled homes caught in the current, floating cars and a metal bridge being carried away. Villages were engulfed by water, mud and debris within minutes, catching residents and trekkers off guard.
"There is devastation everywhere we look," said Tula Bahadur BK, a health worker in Rasuwa. "The settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my own relatives are missing." District administrator Narendra Pariyar urged everyone living along the Bhote Koshi river to move to higher ground, warning of heavy casualties.
The disaster knocked out a significant portion of Nepal's electricity supply, with the energy ministry blaming destroyed hydroelectric plants. Officials said the flooding could get worse, because parts of the river remain blocked by ice, rocks and debris.
Nepalese officials reported 403 people missing, including 341 foreign nationals from India, the United States, Britain, Australia, South Korea and Malaysia. More than 100 of the missing were religious pilgrims from India and the Indian diaspora traveling to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. At least 62 missing were Nepali citizens, many of them locals trekking in Rasuwa, one of the hardest-hit districts.
On the Tibetan side, state media reported at least three people killed and 265 missing, with Chinese authorities conducting large-scale search and rescue operations in the border area of Gyirong. The flood also cut roads, communications and power links in Tibet's Shigatse region, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged "all-out" search efforts for the missing and called for better monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary disasters.
The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude-4.4 earthquake in Nepal early Wednesday near the Tibet border, and experts believe it triggered a large chunk of ice to snap off a glacier and crash into a mountain valley. That collapse sent a sudden surge of water down the Lhende Khola river, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi, unleashing the flash flood.
The Himalayan region, which spans Nepal, India, China and Bhutan, is highly vulnerable to floods and landslides because it is warming faster than the rest of the world. Nepal's snow-capped mountains have lost close to one-third of their ice in just over three decades, and research shows glacier ice loss rates across the Hindu Kush region have doubled since 2000. Last year, a flood from the same river killed nine people and washed away a "friendship bridge" linking Nepal and China, disrupting trade for months.
Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah said police and military units have joined the rescue effort, with instructions to move people in lower-lying areas to safer ground. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with Shah and offered Nepal "all possible types of humanitarian assistance." Flood alerts were also issued in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which sit downstream of the affected rivers.
Rescuers said helicopters could not land in the worst-hit areas of Syapru Besi and Timure until the river waters receded, and heavy monsoon rains continued to hamper operations. With hundreds still unaccounted for and river blockages threatening further surges, the coming days will determine the full scale of one of the deadliest Himalayan flood events in recent memory.
A glacier-triggered flash flood along the Nepal-Tibet border has killed at least 98 people and left more than 400 missing, including dozens of foreign tourists.
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