Rescuers dig into tunnel as missing toll from Nepal, China flood exceeds 3,000
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Nepal army personnel rescuing survivors from a hydropower tunnel on Aug 28, following flash floods.
PHOTO: EPA
- A glacial collapse on Aug 26 caused a deadly flood in Nepal and China, leaving 3,044 people missing and 750 confirmed dead across the Himalayan region.
- Rescue efforts face challenges from mud, rain, rising rivers, and a newly formed lake threatening further flooding, with teams working to save trapped workers in tunnels.
- International aid is flowing in as survivors cope with huge losses, while Nepal seeks specialised help and technology for rescue and recovery operations.
AI generated
KATHMANDU – Rescuers in Nepal and China on Aug 30 battled through leg-sucking mud and the threat of rising rivers and a newly formed lake to locate thousands of people missing days after a deadly wall of water and debris swept through the Himalayan region, engulfing entire villages.
Latest figures from both countries put the number of missing at 3,044, with a further 750 confirmed deaths – and reports of some dead possibly swept downstream as far away as India.
The disaster, which struck the China-Nepal border on the morning of Aug 26, was caused by a glacial collapse, sending a wall of water and debris downstream, the US Geological Survey said.
Chinese rescuers near the Tibet border port that was hit by a deadly mudslide were “moved to a safe location” on Aug 30, after a new lake was formed by a landslide, state media reported.
The Nepali Army was working on Aug 30 to rescue workers who are believed trapped in a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site after they successfully inserted a pipe into the passage.
Teams had “started sending air through the small opening”, Nepali Home Minister Sudan Gurung said in a statement.
But efforts were hampered on Aug 30 by rains and rising river waters, with Nepal’s disaster authorities urging rescue teams to exercise caution.
In an area home to vast energy infrastructure projects, Nepal’s disaster authority listed 933 hydropower workers among the missing.
China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Aug 30 that experts had said “a glacier on the southern slope of Lirung Peak in Nepal” fractured, triggering an ice-rock avalanche.
It said the torrent plummeted rapidly, forming a massive debris flow that travelled more than 20km before crashing into Gyirong Port.
“The sudden glacial collapse and flash flood is a devastating reminder of how fragile these mountain environments can be”, United Nations climate chief Simon Steill said in a statement.
‘Nothing left’
Survivors face an agonising wait to learn the fate of missing relatives, and the prospect of rebuilding their lives from nothing.
“All the settlements near the river were swept away,” Buddhi Ram Dangol told AFP in Nepal’s Nuwakot district. “There is nothing left.”
At an army base serving as a key rescue hub in Bidur, relatives crowded around lists of rescued people pasted on a wall.
“I have come here looking for my son,” said Kalka Sharda, scanning the list in desperation.
Members of the Nepali Army rescue a person trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project in Nepal's Rasuwa district, in a screengrab from video.
PHOTO: AFP
On Aug 30, Nepal’s disaster authority said 589 foreigners, including trekkers and Hindu pilgrims to Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash, were unaccounted for.
The Isha Foundation, led by Indian guru Sadhguru, said in an Instagram post on Aug 29 that 80 members had been on a group trip in the area.
“At this time, there seems to be no encouraging indications of survivors at the immigration office area,” the post said.
‘Enormous’ trauma
The United States and Canada said it would provide US$3.6 million (S$4.6 million) each in humanitarian aid to Nepal.
Britain has offered US$6.8 million in aid while the UN released US$2.5 million in emergency funding.
The European Union on Aug 28 promised US$2.3 million and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it had allocated more than US$1 million, and launched an emergency appeal for US$31 million.
Nepal’s economy is already under pressure, with limited resources to respond to a disaster of this scale and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal saying the reconstruction bill could run into “billions of dollars”.
He appealed for specialised assistance, including heavy-lift drones and technology to help locate people who are trapped.
Khanal also called for forensic testing kits to identify bodies and freezer units to store them, saying bodies that have been in water could decompose at a faster rate.
The deluge of ice and mud caused huge lakes, and one of these formations has become a risk of further floods.
The Chinese and Nepali foreign ministers spoke on Aug 29 and discussed sharing satellite and hydrological data, both sides said.
In Tibet, where the Chinese authorities are the only source of information, rescue operations were temporarily paused at the hardest-hit area of Gyirong over the risk of more flooding from a newly formed lake.
But state broadcaster CCTV said late on Aug 29 that the lake was “discharging naturally” and had been “essentially drained”, citing China’s ministry of water resources.
A total of 2,141 rescuers were near the Gyirong site, the Xinhua state news agency reported, including the more than 500 in the worst-hit area.
Pilgrimage route
Nepal reported a death toll of 675 people on Aug 29.
There are 2,426 people, including hundreds of foreigners, who are out of contact in the country.
Across the border in Tibet, 16 people died and 546 remain missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The authorities also said they had evacuated 555 stranded tourists and 499 Chinese residents from Tibet.
In India, officials said they had recovered seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, believed to be flood victims. AFP
