Torrential floods in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and Tibet killed at least 17 people and destroyed roads, bridges, and power projects on Wednesday, INDEPENDENT reports.
At least 12 Britons are among nearly 400 people missing, according to local officials, as authorities in both countries braced for more casualties and assessments of damage.
The Bhotekoshi River, which flows through northern Nepal towards the border with China, burst its banks at around 9am on Wednesday, destroying several villages and damaging roads and hydropower projects, officials said.
Nepal’s foreign minister Shishir Khanal told parliament that an earthquake struck the area at around 8.37am, according to preliminary information, triggering an avalanche that then caused the flash floods. Officials are still verifying the sequence of events, he said.
He said both Nepal and China suffered “huge damage”.
Authorities issued warnings across several districts and urged residents to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers.
Nepal Police told the BBC that 17 bodies have been discovered in various districts following the floods.
An initial assessment suggested that an ice avalanche blocked the Lhende river, triggering the sudden flood in Bhotekoshi river, the Kathmandu Post reported, quoting Rijan Bhakta Kayastha, a professor at Kathmandu University.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the mudslide occurred on the Nepali side and hit the Gyirong port to cut roads, communications and power links in the Shigatse region near the border with Nepal, but did not elaborate.
“We have asked both India and China to help us with the rescue efforts,” Sasmit Pokharel, a spokesperson for the Nepali government, said.
Nepal’s Tourism Board said 384 travellers, including 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepalis, were reported missing after Wednesday’s flash flood in Rasuwa district. At least 105 Indian tourists are among the missing, according to the board.
Eight South Korean workers at a hydropower plant are also missing, while another 10 South Korean workers are stranded and awaiting evacuation by helicopter, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing the country’s foreign ministry.
Many of those unaccounted for are believed to be pilgrims travelling to Tibet for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
Bashu Kumar Adhikari, managing director of Kathmandu-based Touch Kailash Travels & Tours, said 390 pilgrims, including 93 Nepalis, were scheduled to make the crossing. “Except for a few, we have not been able to establish contact with the pilgrims as of 3pm,” Mr Adhikari told The Kathmandu Post.
There are 37 non-resident Indians, 17 Malaysians, four South Africans, three Americans, one Australian, and one Dutch national among the missing. The nationalities of a further 111 people have yet to be confirmed.
Houses and roads were swept away in Nepal while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties” with some missing in the county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a land crossing between the neighbours.
Rescue helicopters could not land in Nepal's affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000, officials said, with the river flowing above its normal course.
Thirty-five helicopters – 29 civilian and six military – have been deployed from Kathmandu for rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Rasuwa.
So far, 25 helicopters have returned with injured people, including 23 civilian and two military aircraft, according to preliminary reports. Kantipur reported.
Television broadcast images of crumbled homes in the floodwaters, floating cars and a metal bridge being washed away, while witnesses told Reuters the waters engulfed entire villages.
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