KATHMANDU — At least 22 people were killed and more than 380 tourists, mostly foreigners, were missing in Nepal on Wednesday after a massive flood tore through the border region with China.A sudden cloudburst triggered a sharp rise in the Bhotekoshi River, causing a massive flash flood and mudslide, which swept away villages in the Himalayan nation, damaging roads, bridges and power projects, authorities said.”A preliminary agency-wise record received from tourism and travel companies has identified 384 travellers, including 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepali nationals, who were reported missing from the affected areas,” said the Nepal Tourism Board, noting authorities were working to verify the travellers’ whereabouts.”Nineteen bodies have been recovered so far. We are intensely coordinating the rescue and relief efforts. Many in our police force are also out of contact,” Nepali police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said.Videos shared by Nepal police and others on social media showed torrents of muddy water crashing through mountain valleys in the Himalayan district bordering China.”I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people,” Suman Chalise, a 34-year-old teacher, told AFP in Nuwakot district.”It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.”The police spokesperson said earlier that authorities did not know the extent of the damage but said they had “alerted people who are staying near the riverside to relocate.”The Nepal Army said it had deployed helicopters and disaster response personnel to the affected area.The Nepal Electricity Authority said about 430 megawatts of production capacity, including from hydropower and solar facilities, has been damaged.”The disaster has damaged the production, transmission and distribution facilities of the Authority…resulting in disruption of electricity supply,” it said.Sarthak Shrestha, a remote sensing and geo information analyst at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), said a preliminary assessment showed “no anomalies” from China’s side of the border.”We believe a rock-ice avalanche occurred in Nepal, blocking the Lhende river and causing the cascading flood event,” he said.Several highways were also closed, Nepali authorities said.Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday that “a mudslide disaster on the Nepalese side resulted in major casualties and missing people at the Gyirong Port” in Tibet.Footage shared by the broadcaster, showed rushing water carrying tree branches and debris, as well as a flooded road.State news agency Xinhua said Chinese President Xi Jinping had urged “all-out” rescue operations, but did not provide figures on injuries or deaths.Xi said that “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people…quickly treat injured people and minimise casualties to the greatest extent possible,” according to CCTV.Xinhua said the mudslide struck near Gyirong Port, a major land port connecting the two countries, in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet.“The disaster has cut off roads leading to the port on the Chinese side, as well as communications and power supplies,” Xinhua reported, citing the emergency management bureau of Gyirong County in Xigaze City.Authorities deployed rescue teams, including helicopters, while personnel from state security agencies and local residents joined search and rescue operations.Traffic authorities in Tibet’s Shigatse said roads in the area were “at risk of mudslides and unsafe for passage” in a post on social media on Wednesday.Many people were caught off guard when the flash flood hit, as there was no heavy rainfall, said Kosh Raj Koirala, an editor of Republica Daily, an English newspaper in Nepal’s capital.“[People] were at home … several houses have been washed away, swept away by the river,” Koirala told Al Jazeera.Prime Minister Balendra Shah convened an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority to take stock of the situation.“Work has started to take necessary steps in coordination with the medical team, scouts, and Red Cross,” Shah said in a social media post.
Keep Up to Date with our Weekly Newsletter
