Rescue teams are searching for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border DEVIGHAT, Nepal -- Rescue teams searched on Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border after a catastrophic and deadly torrent of floods and mud swept through several communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse. The disaster left 168 people dead and more than 1,300 missing, including foreigners and pilgrims, and displaced hundreds of people across the Himalayan region. Videos of the tragedy showed the flood swallowing people as they tried to escape, and destroying buildings and bridges.
On Thursday, drone footage from Nepal showed the scale of the destruction. The region’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors, but are precarious when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nuwakot slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by.
Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud. The floods halted travel in some areas. There was little time for anyone to flee.
People were preparing to go to the office then,” resident Shoyam Rajbhandari said. The steep slopes and the lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and extreme weather events. Melting glaciers have become more common because of warming because of human-caused climate change.
Researchers in Kathmandu found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting faster, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000. The disaster has left at least 165 dead and 826 people missing in Nepal, and three dead and 558 missing in Tibet, authorities said. Nepalese officials said that dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads were damaged, complicating search efforts.
The Nepalese army has rescued more than 100 people from flood-affected areas through helicopter operations on Thursday morning, army spokesperson Brig. At least eight foreign nationals were airlifted to the country’s capital, Kathmandu, he said, adding that army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project. Rescuers found bodies about 100 kilometers (60 miles) downstream from the disaster zone in Chitwan district.
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