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Rescue teams rushed into action after flooding and landslides caused by a “glacial collapse” at the China-Nepal border left at least 165 people dead and hundreds more missing. Officials in Nepal said 486 tourists are missing, including foreign nationals from India, the US, UK and Australia, while China has reported 558 people missing, 260 of which are foreign nationals.
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Nepal’s tourism ministry said the missing included 142 Indian nationals, 33 people from the UK, 47 from the US, 34 from Australia and 24 from Canada as well as others from South Korea, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Portugal and South Africa. Nine South Koreans were missing, Seoul’s foreign ministry said. At least 28 Nepalese police were missing, a police spokesperson said.
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Nepali police said late Wednesday that they had recovered 162 bodies. Chinese state media reported three dead on the Tibet side of the border. Tibet government officials have mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers and 150 vehicles as well as sniffer dogs and speed boats to help the rescue efforts, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.
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Surveillance video from the Chinese side of the border showed a huge wave of mud and debris crashing over a building several storeys high, engulfing it as dozens of people flee for their lives below. The surge swept away buses and cars. Other videos showed entire towns and their surrounds as the massive flood rushed down the mountain.
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An earthquake was initially thought to be the cause; but by Thursday the US Geological Survey (USGS) said “a glacial collapse” was responsible for the disaster. “This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred.” The USGS first reported the seismic jolt early on Wednesday about 66km (41 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border.
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Entire villages and markets were “wiped out”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. It was dispatching emergency supplies including blankets, first aid kits, stretchers and body bags. The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, said UN teams and partners were mobilising supplies and personnel in Nepal to support affected communities.
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Experts warned that a lingering blockage upstream on the Nepal-China border river could produce a second flood.
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China’s president, Xi Jinping, said “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people”, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
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Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said his thoughts were with those concerned about their loved oned, but getting information about the status of those missing remained difficult.
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