China29 August, 20263 min read
Nepal-Tibet Flash Floods Kill At Least 750, Leave More Than 3,000 Missing
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Death toll rises to at least 750, with more than 3,000 missing. More than 3,000 people remain missing across Nepal and Tibet.
Border floods, shifting tolls
A flash flooding disaster in the Nepal-Tibet border region killed at least 750 people and left more than 3,000 missing, with the death toll rising as Nepali and Chinese officials issued updated figures. ABC News reported that at least 734 bodies had been recovered in Nepal as of Sunday, while China’s state-run Xinhua said at least 16 people had been confirmed killed on the Tibetan side and 546 remained missing. The flooding occurred in the northern Rasuwa district along the border with Tibet at around 8:40 a.m. local time Wednesday, inundating areas along the Trishuli River and damaging bridges and roadways.
ABC News said the deadly wall of water descended from the mountains on the border between Nepal and Tibet and was reportedly triggered by a landslide about 12 miles northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border post along the Nepal-China frontier. On the Nepal side, the BBC reported that the number of bodies recovered since Wednesday had increased to 794 as of 17:45 local time on Sunday, while Nepal Police said 788 people had died and NDRRMA said 781 were killed and 2,502 remain missing.
Rescue efforts and voices
As rescue teams worked in the autonomous region of Tibet, CNN said footage from Chinese state media showed rescuers facing rugged terrain to reach the disaster zone. CNN also reported that over 900 hydropower workers are missing after Nepal-China flooding, citing the country’s Independent Power Producers’ Association. In Nepal, the BBC described tunnel rescue efforts at the Trishuli-3A hydropower site being “intensified,” with a joint team of 90 people deployed including armed forces, police, and rescuers with trained dogs.
The BBC said the team created a 2x3ft hole (0.6x0.9m) in the crown of the tunnel and “received no response from inside” when they called out. ABC News quoted State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott saying, “Our priority is the safety and security of the American people,” as it reported that 85 Americans were still among the missing as of Sunday and that nine Americans total had been evacuated.
China’s response and what’s at risk
China’s state media and officials continued to update casualty and missing-person figures while rescue operations grappled with the risk of further flooding from upstream lakes formed by debris. El País reported that China raised the death toll to seven and put the number of missing at 554, while also describing how communications and the absence of testimonies made it difficult to reconstruct what happened on the Tibetan side. El País said China published for the first time a breakdown of the nationalities of the missing in Tibet, stating that of the 546 people still unaccounted for, 261 are foreigners from 23 countries.
The Guardian reported that Chinese authorities on Sunday reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, of whom 261 were foreign nationals, and it said Nepal’s missing total was 3,048 including hundreds of foreigners. In Nepal, the BBC reported that the prime minister's office said tunnel rescue efforts had been “intensified” at the Trishuli-3A hydropower site, with the operation continuing “working tirelessly around the clock” despite “difficult and risky conditions.”