The death toll from the flash flood-devastated region of Nepal and Tibet has risen past 470, as rescue efforts continue on both sides of the Himalayan border. The prime minister’s office in Nepal reported on Friday that 469 people were confirmed killed with 977 missing. At least three people were killed in Tibet and 558 remain missing, according to Chinese authorities.
Authorities in Nepal say 644 of the missing are foreigners. About 1,550 people have been rescued. The disaster struck on Wednesday, when a glacier collapse sent a surge of ice, water, rock and mud down Himalayan river valleys, burying entire villages and destroying roads, bridges and hydropower plants.
Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, told Al Jazeera that the situation was “extremely difficult” for those stranded in the disaster zone, with no roads to reach them. About 800 people have been rescued by helicopter and 700 by land, he said. Aid is being airlifted to survivors.
China has deployed about 500 military and paramilitary personnel and sent Premier Li Qiang to supervise operations, she reported. Rescue efforts are being complicated by fears that secondary flooding could impact the disaster zone. Attention is turning to a newly-formed barrier lake straddling the Nepal-China border.
Both countries have warned it is unstable and at risk of bursting. Barrier lakes form when flooding or landslides block a river, trapping a growing body of water behind a natural dam of debris. Chinese authorities warned that the lake held about two million cubic metres (70 million cubic feet) of water, and was expected to receive another three million cubic metres (106 million cubic feet) over the next three days.
Rescue and military teams trying to reach the border port of Gyirong, where buildings lie buried under mud one and a half metres deep, have been ordered to pause their work because of mudslide fears, Yu reports. The foreign ministry in Kathmandu said on Friday that Nepal did not require international assistance with the search. Our security agencies are doing the search and rescue operation.
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