A catastrophic wall of mud and rock crashed into a river along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China’s Tibet on Wednesday. The sudden collapse triggered massive flooding on the Nepali side that has already claimed many lives and left hundreds of people unaccounted for.
Nepal police confirmed that 157 bodies have been recovered so far. Officials warn the number is likely to rise sharply as rescue teams continue their difficult work. Nepal’s tourism ministry reported that more than 400 tourists remain missing. Around 340 of them are foreign nationals. Among the missing are 133 Indian pilgrims, 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 British citizens and 24 Canadians.
The disaster struck a popular route used by Hindu pilgrims heading to Kailash Manasarovar in Tibet. Survivors described a terrifying wall of mud that rose higher as it approached. One 68 year old man named Keshav Prasad Baral said he tried to pull his wife to safety but she was swept away. He was later rescued by helicopter while still searching for her under the debris.
Authorities believe an earthquake in the highland areas may have caused part of a glacier to collapse. This triggered landslides and the deadly floods. China’s state media reported major casualties on their side of the border in Gyirong county, with three confirmed dead and 265 people still missing. South Korea also confirmed eight of its citizens working at a hydropower plant are unaccounted for.
Footage from the Chinese side showed people running for their lives as a torrent of rock, mud and water destroyed buildings and vehicles. Houses, roads, bridges and power projects were washed away in Nepal’s Rasuwa district. Rescue helicopters struggled to land because the river had risen far above its normal level. Local residents gathered outside an army training centre seeking news of missing family members while the area remained without electricity.
Flood alerts were issued in northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Authorities there evacuated thousands of people from low lying areas as rivers carried the muddy waters downstream. The full scale of this tragedy is still emerging as night fell and recovery efforts continued under difficult conditions.
