New satellite imagery has revealed the scale of the devastation along Nepal's Trishuli River caused by Wednesday's deadly flash flood, triggered by a glacier collapse. Before-and-after images show how sections of the valley, where a torrent of floodwater and debris surged through, destroyed villages, bridges and hydroelectric power stations. More than 550 people have been killed, Nepalese officials say, with hundreds more missing.
Among the worst-hit locations reviewed by BBC Verify was a key Nepal-Tibet border crossing, which was engulfed by a rush of floodwater and captured on camera. The satellite imagery from US-based intelligence firm Vantor, shows the site has been almost entirely washed away. Shocking CCTV footage showed the moment as the deluge of water swept over buildings as people tried to escape.
Damage and mud can be seen more than 2.5km (1.5 miles) upstream, reaching 100m (330 ft) above the area it first hit. A few miles further south is the village of Timure, which has now largely disappeared. The walls of the valley at this point are steep, reaching up to 50m above the water line.
The image shows most of the houses perched on this slope are now gone or covered in mud. A further 10km (eight miles) downstream, where the Trishuli River winds through Syapru Besi, satellite imagery now shows the village covered by mud, rock and other debris. Houses and other structures have disappeared, including bridges and a hydroelectric power station.
One of the larger villages to be struck by the full force of the flood was Trishuli, where some of the earliest verified footage of the disaster emerged from. A satellite image of the town and surrounding agricultural land, which is about 45km (28 miles) downstream from the border, show an entire neighbourhood has been essentially washed away. Verified videos of the town show a bridge collapsing as the river surges forward.
At the very same moment from ground level, footage filmed from inside a bus shows people crying out in distress and trying to flee as they see the water rushing down the river. Other dramatic videos show people sheltering inside a house, peering over the edge of a balcony as they watch a torrent of floodwater wash away almost everything around them, knocking large metal debris and a vehicle toward the building. Somehow the house remains intact and survivors can be seen in a second verified video standing surrounded by mud once the floodwater had receded.
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