Photos: Avalanche floods kill eight, hundreds missing in Nepal’s Himalayas

Hundreds of people are missing and at least eight have been killed after an avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods in Nepal’s Himalayan region, washing away villages and infrastructure along the Bhotekoshi river. Officials said 384 tourists, including 291 foreigners from India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States, were unaccounted for after Wednesday’s disaster, which struck at about 9am ( ). Roads and hydropower projects were destroyed, and authorities issued alerts urging residents in several districts to keep away from the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers.

Rasuwa district was worst hit, echoing similar flash floods in August last year when an overflowing glacial lake in neighbouring Tibet killed nine people and damaged a key cross-border bridge. Climate experts at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said an ice-rock avalanche on the Nepal side blocked the Lhende Khola, a Bhotekoshi tributary, before releasing a sudden surge downstream, underscoring growing risks in the rapidly warming Himalayas.