The death toll from devastating floods near the border between Nepal and China has risen to at least 734, with thousands missing following Wednesday’s disaster. Rescue efforts are under way to locate more than 900 missing workers at hydropower projects in central Nepal. Authorities from Nepal and the Tibet region of China have put the total number of missing at just over 3,000, with some bodies washing up in neighbouring India.
A glacier collapse high in the Himalaya mountains in Nepal near the border with Tibet triggered Wednesday’s catastrophic flooding and landslides, which buried villages and towns along the Trishuli and Bhotekoshi river systems. On Friday, rising water levels in a new lake formed by the build-up of debris prompted a temporary halt to search efforts amid fears of a second flood. Rescue operations resumed after the lake threat was deemed manageable.
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said that Chinese authorities say the risk seems to have been reduced, but it has not disappeared. They are closely monitoring using satellites, radars, and drones,” she said, adding that “authorities are confident that if the situation around the barrier lake should deteriorate, they will be able to give notice of about 30 minutes to rescuers below”. Here’s what we know about the latest rescue efforts and the victims: As of Sunday morning, around 933 people are missing or unaccounted for, according to the country’s Independent Power Producers’ Association.
They were working at 11 hydropower project sites and tunnels in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, which are among the worst-hit areas. The workers include citizens of Nepal, India, South Korea and China. How many are trapped or missing at each individual hydropower site remains unclear.
However, with adverse weather conditions persisting in the area, the rescue efforts have become quite challenging,” the statement added. Videos on social media show Nepali soldiers wading through mud trying to rescue workers trapped at the 216-megawatt Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project. The army has rescued 254 workers there.
But rescue efforts have also proved challenging at other hydropower sites, such as the 22MW Chilime Hydropower project in Rasuwa district, 133 km (82 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu. The tunnel is filled with mud and it is impossible to enter,” Baburaj Maharjan, executive director of Chilime Hydropower Company, told the Kathmandu Post. India has sent teams to help rescue trapped workers.
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