More than 160 people have died and hundreds are missing after torrential floods in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and Tibet destroyed roads, bridges and power projects.
More than 1,000 people, including at least 600 foreigners, are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet, authorities said, after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys.
The death toll stood at 162 as of Thursday morning.
Initial reports suggested an earthquake in the area could have triggered an avalanche and caused the floods, Nepal's foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, told the country's parliament on Wednesday.
Houses and roads were swept away in Nepal, while officials in China's Tibet said they feared “major casualties” with people missing in Gyirong county after a mudslide hit a land crossing between the neighbours.
River levels were too high for rescue helicopters to land in Nepal’s affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, which has a population of about 50,000, officials said.
Security footage captured on the Chinese side of the Nepal-Tibet border showed many people fleeing before a torrent of rock, mud and water destroyed buildings, vehicles and took many lives.
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A massive flood swept through Nepal's northern Rasuwa district, damaging roads and power infrastructure, leaving authorities assessing the scale of the destruction. AFP -
An aerial view of damaged homes in Trishuli Bazar after flash flooding in Nuwakot district, Nepal. Several people were killed, with many others still unaccounted for. EPA -
Houses by a riverside lie partially submerged in muddy water in the aftermath. AFP -
A scene of devastation in Trishuli Bazar. EPA -
Villagers wade through flooded streets in the aftermath. EPA -
Residents watch a torrent of muddy water surge through their town. AFP -
A resident took this picture on their phone of a flooded road in Galchhi in the Dhading district of Nepal. Reuters -
Police officers carry a survivor to a safe place in Trishuli. Reuters -
Houses and lorries lie deluged in sludge in Trishuli Bazar. AFP -
Soldiers assist injured villagers in Trishuli Bazar. EPA -
Rescuers gather on a rooftop as floodwater gushes through Trishuli Bazar. EPA
Television channels broadcast images of crumbled homes in the flood waters, floating cars and a metal bridge being washed away, while witnesses told Reuters that entire villages had been engulfed.
“There could be heavy casualties or loss of property,” said district administrator Narendra Pariyar, who urged dwellers on the banks of the Bhote Koshi river to move to higher ground.
“There is devastation everywhere we look,” Tula Bahadur BK, a health worker in Rasuwa, told Reuters. “The settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my own relatives are missing.”
Nepal's rescue helicopters would be unable to land in the affected areas until the waters recede, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said.
The cause of the flooding was not immediately clear, but a deadly flash flood on the same river last year was eventually traced to the draining of a glacier lake.
China's official Xinhua news agency said the mudslide occurred on the Nepali side of the border and hit Gyirong port in Tibet, cutting road, communications and power links in the Shigatse region near the Chinese border with Nepal.
China's President Xi Jinping urged “all-out” search efforts for the missing as well as stronger monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary disasters.
Nepal's energy ministry said 430MW of electricity supplies were affected, mostly from hydroelectric projects, or more than 12 per cent of the total national hydropower capacity of 3.2GW, according to a Reuters calculation.
Police and military personnel were joining in the rescue effort, said Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah.
“Instructions have been given … to move the people living in the lower areas to safer places,” he said. “People along the river are advised to exercise extra caution and remain alert.”
From its origins in Tibet, the Bhote Koshi river empties into Nepal's Trishuli river that eventually flows into India as the Gandak river.
Last year's Bhote Koshi flood killed nine people, with 24 missing, as it washed away a “friendship bridge” linking Nepal and China, disrupting trade and transport for months.
That flood was triggered by the draining of a supraglacial lake in Tibet, a regional climate monitor said.
