Nepal is intensifying relief and recovery operations following the catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border a week ago, the UN says, even as rescuers scramble to reach anyone who may be alive. For thousands, the priority is delivering aid, recovering loved ones, tracing missing relatives and reunifying separated children, the UN secretary-general's spokesman said. At least 1,200 people have died in Nepal and more than 4,200 more are missing, according to Nepal's disaster agency.
On the Tibetan side, the death toll is 21, with more than 540 people unaccounted for, Chinese state media report. Efforts are continuing to rescue workers, potentially in the hundreds, believed to be trapped in Nepalese hydropower tunnels. A massive flash flood, believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, swept through a Himalayan valley last Wednesday, wiping out villages.
Nearly 12,000 people have since been rescued, according to Nepal's disaster management agency. But thousands more, including hundreds of foreign nationals - from India, the UK, Australia, the US, Malaysia and more - are still missing. A week on, fears are growing that the death toll will only rise.
Chinese rescue teams are continuing to search for more than 500 people missing on the Tibetan side of the border, but they have yet to find survivors at the crossing known as Gyirong Port between Nepal and Tibet. Beijing, which annexed Tibet in the 1950s, tightly controls the region. All information comes from state media and foreign journalists cannot travel there without permission.
Rescuers using heavy machinery, working around the clock, have been able to re-open the route to the Gyirong border crossing and clear the road of debris, which will accelerate the search for the missing, Chinese state media said. Rescue operations continue in challenging conditions, and experts from China and India are helping build temporary bridges to reach remote areas. Drones are being deployed over hard-to reach areas to scan for survivors.
The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the main challenge is access, with more than 40 bridges destroyed. The most remote communities are relying on army helicopter flights for supplies, and villages are still struggling for fuel and electricity. The full impact of the flood in Tibet is unclear.
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