Glacier-collapse flash floods along the Nepal-China border have killed at least 676 people with nearly 3,000 missing, as rescue teams race to free workers trapped in hydropower tunnels and a new flood threat looms.
Catastrophic flash floods triggered by a Himalayan glacier collapse have killed at least 676 people across Nepal and the Tibet region of China, with nearly 3,000 more still unaccounted for as rescue operations entered their fourth day Saturday. The disaster struck Wednesday along the Nepal-China border, burying villages in mud and debris and sweeping away roads, bridges, and entire communities in minutes.
Nepal's disaster agency put the death toll at 669 with 2,426 people missing, while Chinese authorities reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing. The Red Cross estimates roughly 90,000 people have been affected. More than 3,700 survivors have been pulled to safety so far, but hundreds of the missing are foreigners who were in the region to work, trek, or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak on the Tibetan side of the border.
Rescue helicopters resumed operations before noon Saturday in Nuwakot, one of the hardest-hit Nepali districts, after poor weather temporarily grounded aerial missions. Some aircraft ferried in boxes and bags of aid -- clothes, instant noodles, crackers, and rice -- while others returned carrying survivors from the flood-ravaged valleys.
Challenging terrain and thick mud have made the search brutally difficult. Ground crews in the devastated districts are navigating vast boulders and waist-deep sludge left behind by the wall of water that tore through the mountains. Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescue teams face four to five feet of mud and severely limited helicopter landing sites.
One of the most urgent operations centers on more than 100 workers feared alive and trapped inside tunnels at the Trishuli 3A and 3B hydropower projects. Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said rescue efforts are underway at multiple tunnel sites, not a single location as initially reported.
Saturday brought a breakthrough when rescuers broke through the mud at Trishuli 3A and began pumping air into the tunnel, with efforts to lower a camera inside underway. Specialized tunnel-rescue teams from India and China have joined the operation, including Indian crews with deep experience in Himalayan tunnel disasters and skilled rat-hole miners who can crawl into narrow spaces. Nepal's own mountain rescue teams, veterans of the world's highest peaks, are also part of the search.
In Kathmandu, desperate relatives have papered hospital walls with posters of missing loved ones, clutching photographs and scanning lists of the dead and injured. Officials said families had registered roughly 1,600 missing persons at the main government hospital help desk alone.
Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal called locating the missing the country's top national priority and said Nepal has requested specialized assistance from neighbors, including tunnel-rescue support, survivor-detection technology, rapid forensic and DNA analysis, and morgue refrigerators. International aid is flowing in -- more than 57 metric tons of relief supplies have arrived from India, with additional shipments from China, Japan, and Australia.
Rescuers are also watching the mountains with growing concern. A new lake formed high in the Himalayas after the glacier collapse that unleashed the floods, and experts warned Saturday it was beginning to overflow. Basnet said teams have already been forced to relocate temporarily when authorities issued warnings about the risk of further flooding.
With thousands still missing and the search far from over, the coming days will test both the region's emergency response and the durability of the makeshift relief network now stretched across the border. The threat of another surge of water hangs over every rescue operation, even as families hold out hope that loved ones trapped in the mud and tunnels may still be found alive.
Glacier-collapse flash floods along the Nepal-China border have killed at least 676 people with nearly 3,000 missing, as rescue teams race to free workers trapped in hydropower tunnels and a new flood threat looms.
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