Arabic version: فيضانات خاطفة في الهيمالايا تخلّف مئات المفقودين
According to ABC News, flash flooding on the Nepal-Tibet border has left at least 160 people dead and hundreds missing, including Australians. Nepal police reported recovering at least 157 bodies on the Nepalese side, while Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported three deaths in Gyirong County on the Tibetan side.
A Nepali tourism official said 403 people, including 341 foreign nationals, had been reported missing after the flood. A list supplied by tourism board spokesman Sunil Sharma put the number of missing Australians at 34. The missing also include 133 people from India on a pilgrimage, as well as Americans, Britons, Canadians and eight South Korean citizens working on a hydropower plant.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of a number of Australians in the area and was urgently working to confirm their welfare. The department said it was liaising with local authorities and tour operators and stood ready to provide consular assistance. Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the loss of life and destruction as devastating.
Accounts of the flood’s cause differ. Nepal’s foreign minister initially said an earthquake triggered an avalanche and sudden flooding of the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa district. The German Research Centre for Geosciences recorded a magnitude-4.4 quake minutes before the water struck border communities. Climate experts said a collapsing glacier was likely the primary cause, while Nepal’s disaster authority cited satellite data indicating a snow-rock landslide.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said entire villages and market areas had been wiped out. It announced emergency funding of 997,000 Swiss francs, about $1.73 million, for Nepal Red Cross efforts. Experts also warned that a blockage upstream on the Nepal-China border river could lead to another flood, while authorities in India’s Bihar state began evacuating up to 12,000 people from six districts.
