Nepal-Tibet: At least 270 killed in Nepal as experts warn of possible second flood

Summary

Rescuers are looking for survivors after a massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border destroyed homes, swamped roads, and swept away bridges
More than 800 people are missing and at least 270 have died in Nepal
Two sisters are desperately waiting for news of their parents, who travelled from Texas to Tibet on a pilgrimage: "We just love them a lot and want them to come home," they tell the BBC
In Tibet, at least 558 people are missing, with three confirmed dead - it's not clear if these figures overlap with Nepal's
On both sides of the border, hundreds of foreign nationals are missing - Nepal says that includes 178 tourists from India, 127 from Nepal, 65 Americans, 35 Australians, and 33 from the UK
The US Geological Survey says "glacial collapse and debris flow" triggered the floods - and there are fears of more floods, with debris blocking rivers

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Live Reporting

Edited by Rorey Bosotti and Elaine Okyere, with Phanindra Dahal in Kathmandu, Azadeh Moshiri, Jitendra Raut and BBC Nepali Service

Survivors in Trishuli begin to assess the damage and try to salvage belongingspublished at 07:07 BST

We're seeing some new images this morning from Trishuli, Nepal.
Some people can be seen trying to salvage their belongings while others wait among the rubble for paths to be cleared back to their homes.
Thick mud covers the buildings and access routes.
Image source, Reuters
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One man tries to salvage some of his belongings from the destruction left behind in Trishuli by the flood on Thursday morning
Image source, Reuters
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Another man can be seen here wading through the mud and remaining water in the area
Image source, Reuters
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Other survivors were pictured sitting on debris as they wait for roads to their homes to clear
Image source, Reuters
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A drone view taken on Thursday morning has captured the levels of destruction in the area
Officials continue to focus on rescuing survivorspublished at 06:55 BST
Binita Dahal
BBC Nepali

Image source, Reuters
Many injured people are in local healthcare centres, hospitals and some severely injured are in several hospitals of Kathmandu. Relatives of the victims are anxiously waiting to hear about their family members.
Night-vision helicopters were used to search for people and deliver help, with rescue and relief teams working from bases in Dhunche and Nuwakot - two of the worst-hit districts.
A BBC reporter from the affected area says: There is no electricity, no road access and no internet.
Officials continue to focus on rescuing survivors
Five trucks carrying relief supplies have already been sent, with more aid on the way. The United States, China, the European Union and India have also offered help.
Videos from the affected areas have shown huge amounts of water rushing through several communities.
Roads, bridges and power stations have been badly damaged, while some homes and entire villages have been swept away.

Nepal says 165 bodies recovered with identification ongoingpublished at 06:41 BST

Image source, Reuters
We can bring you some more now from Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) which says 165 bodies have now been recovered from flood-affected areas - their identification is still ongoing.
The agency's update is based on details from District Administration Offices and Emergency Operation Centres - it adds that there are currently 85 emergency service personnel who are not currently contactable.
The statement also references damage to bridges and roads - adding that more detailed data continues to be collected.
A few hours ago, Nepali police said the death toll stood at 162.
Nepali army rescues seven from tunnelpublished at 06:29 BST
Keshav Koirala
BBC Nepali

The Nepali Army says that seven people trapped in a tunnel of a hydroelectric project in Haku, Rasuwa have been rescued alive. It says efforts are underway to rescue those trapped in three other tunnels.
According to the army, 95 people have been safely rescued from the Timure area of Rasuwa.
Among the rescued are 21 Indian tourists who went of contact yesterday from Timure area.

More than 800 people missing in Nepal - disaster agencypublished at 06:16 BST
Breaking

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has just given their latest update, saying 826 people are missing after the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods.
According to the agency, that figure includes security forces, tourists and the general public.
The number of tourists missing is said to be more than 529.
Tour operator says 27 trekkers and four staff missingpublished at 06:12 BST
Simon Atkinson
Australia reporter

I’ve been contacting firms which advertise tours that include trips through the Nepal-Tibet border.
As this is not the peak trekking season, it appears most of those taking international visitors are doing so as part of pilgrimages.
Shivendra Mishra, a spokesperson for Kailash Journeys, told me 27 of his company’s guests and four office staff are among the missing. They were all part of a 15-day pilgrimage tour.
Kailash Journeys said they were last in contact with the group at 08:00 Nepali time on Wednesday.
“After that no contact,” Mishra added.
A list of names of the tourists provided to the BBC includes five women and two men who are British citizens, Their ages range from 19 to 55.
Four men and four women from the US are also listed alongside six Australians, one New Zealander, two Canadians, one person from Malaysia and anther from South Africa.

Why Indian pilgrims were travelling through flood-hit Nepalpublished at 06:01 BST
Nikita Yadav
BBC News, Delhi

Image source, Getty Images
At least 133 Indians are among those reported missing after deadly flash floods in Nepal.
Many of them were travelling to or from Mount Kailash - a peak in the Himalayas near the border between Nepal and Tibet - which is considered the spiritual home of the Hindu god Shiva.
The journey to the mountain is part of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a sacred pilgrimage for Hindus. Some people travel through an official programme run by India’s foreign ministry, while others make the journey through Nepal with private tour operators.
The pilgrimage had only recently resumed after being disrupted first by the pandemic and then by tensions between India and China.
Rescue efforts complicated by rain and geography, Chinese authorities saypublished at 05:42 BST

Rescue operations have grown increasingly difficult on the Tibet side because of uncertain weather conditions and the remote geography of the area, Chinese authorities say.
The mudslide that struck Tibet's Gyirong county is nearly 1.5m in depth, and the edge of it stretches 2.5km from the border crossing, which "significantly hinders subsequent rescue efforts", state broadcaster CCTV report authorities saying.
"The area is characterised by high mountains and deep valleys with concentrated water catchment areas, so [ongoing] rainfall would bring considerable uncertainty," the report said.
Meteorological authorities expect rain to continue over the next three days along the route between Gyirong Port and Dingri Airport which would complicate rescue efforts.
It has also been challenging to deploy large vehicles and heavy equipment through narrow mountain roads, authorities say.

USGS says 'glacial collapse' caused 'catastrophic impacts downstream'published at 05:27 BST

The US Geological Survey has confirmed that what it had initially reported as an earthquake "was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow" that "caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream".
It had first reported the event as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake on Wednesday.
"Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred," the USGS said on Thursday morning.
Earlier Nepali authorities had also told the BBC that a massive chunk of ice may have collapsed from a mountain, pulling down rocks and other sediments with it.
Meanwhile, scientists are still working through the exact sequence of events that could have unleashed such a disaster.
Debris in river could cause further flash flooding, report sayspublished at 05:06 BST

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has released a detailed assessment of what happened on Wednesday, when a major flash food caused devastation in Nepal and Tibet.
In it, experts warn of a secondary potential flooding event, as a result of the debris that washed into the river systems.
The experts cited in the report say they are in the process of assessing whether the Trishuli River has been temporarily blocked in narrow sections. If it has been blocked, it is at risk of forming a landslide dam - and a second flooding event.
Authorities and scientists are continuing to evaluate the size, location and stability of any potential blockages.

Nepali army deploys 2,000 troops for search and rescuepublished at 04:41 BST
Phanindra Dahal
BBC Nepali, Kathmandu

The Nepali army has deployed 2,000 military personnel for land and aerial search and rescue operations in flood affected areas.
The troops are concentrated in the worst-hit areas, including the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, army spokesman Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet told the BBC.
The military has thus far managed to rescue 97 people trapped in floods, he said, noting that three of them were workers stranded in the tunnel of Trishuli A hydropower project.
Nepal's police and the armed police force have also deployed officials to help with search operations.
In pictures: Aerial pictures show scale of destructionpublished at 04:22 BST

New photographs have emerged showing the scale of destruction of yesterday's massive floods and landslides.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Mud covering properties following a flash flood in Trishuli
Image source, Reuters
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An aerial view of buildings in Trishuli partially submerged by mud
Image source, EPA
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Nepali army officers rescuing flood survivors
Image source, Xinhua
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In Tibet, China has ordered "all-out" rescue and relief efforts

Number missing on Tibetan side of shared border rises to 558published at 03:49 BST

The number of people missing in the mudslide disaster in Tibet's Gyirong county has risen to 558, China's state broadcaster CCTV said this morning.
Among these are 260 foreign nationals, CCTV said, adding that the death toll remained at three.
The border at Gyirong is the main crossing point for tourists and traffic between China and Nepal.
On Wednesday, state media had reported "major casualties" shortly after the mudslide broke out on the shared border.
Nepal had earlier said that some 579 tourists were missing, with 466 foreigners among them. It is not immediately clear if any of the numbers have been counted twice.
One tour group counts 47 missingpublished at 03:31 BST
Simon Atkinson
Australia reporter

I have been in touch via WhatsApp with one of the tour companies whose guests and staff have been impacted by the flash floods in Nepal.
Sanket Pandey, Managing Director for Himalayan Glacier US tells me: “We have a group of 47 total, including our guides that are missing and out of contact since the event.”
He says they include 15 Australians, 10 Canadians, nine people from Nepal, eight from the US, two from Singapore, two from the UK and one a dual US-Russian citizen. Seven of the missing Nepalese people are guides, and two are clients.
Australian media are reporting two of the Australian nationals were boys aged 14 and 11 – though the BBC has not yet confirmed this.
Pandey says the group were Kailash Yatries – people making a sacred pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and the nearby Lake Manasarovar located in the remote high-altitude region of Tibet, China.
The company says the group was due to cross into Tibet on Wednesday. Most of the group were staying at Hotel Kailash around 1.5km south on the Nepali side of the Rasuwa Gadhi border crossing, though nine were on the road from Syaburbensi – around 15km south - when contact was lost.

Death toll rises to 162published at 03:14 BST
Breaking

The death toll has risen to 162, according to Nepali police. Among those killed, 64 were found in downstream areas in the Chitwan district while another 26 were found in Nawalparasi East, police said in a statement this morning.
Twenty-eight police officers are among the hundreds still unaccounted for, it added.
Chitwan, a tourism hotspot known for its jungle safaris, is one of several municipalities that have been placed on high alert as floodwaters rise.
US pledges $500,000 in aid for Nepalpublished at 02:55 BST

Image source, Reuters
The US has promised $500,000 in aid which will be used to cover emergency shelter, water, sanitation and other relief items for communities affected by the floods.
"The United States extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the devastating flash floods in the Rasuwa district of Nepal," the State Department says in a statement.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster," it adds.
At least 54 Americans, most of them tourists, have been reported to be among the hundreds of people missing following the catastrophic floods and mudslides.

Here's the latest on the deadly Nepal floodspublished at 02:27 BST

Image source, EPA
It's been nearly 24 hours since massive flash floods and landslides wiped away entire villages in Nepal near its border with Tibet. At least 157 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing, many of them foreign tourists, authorities say.
Here's the latest on the disaster:
- The eventual death toll is expected to be much higher as search and rescue efforts are underway. At least 403 people are thought to be missing, including 341 foreign nationals, many from India
- Aerial images show widespread damage to homes, roads and bridges in the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal's Rasuwa region
- The entire nation is "shocked and deeply distressed", says Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah. Some survivors have recalled witnessing their family being swept away
- Approximately eight tonnes of relief supplies have been dispatched to areas affected by the flash floods. The US, China, the EU and India are among the countries that have pledged assistance or dispatched supplies
- Authorities initially believed an earthquake triggered the flash flooding, the United States Geological Survey's latest analysis suggests there was no quake and that "glacial collapse and debris flow" was what caused the seismic activity
- Experts are now trying to piece together the order of events. Climate change is known to be driving faster glacier melt in parts of the Himalayas, but scientists say it is too soon to pinpoint its role in this event
'My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud'published at 02:05 BST

Image source, Reuters
Keshav Prasad Baral says the flood at the Nepal-Tibet border looked like a "huge gush of mud coming straight towards us".
Speaking to Reuters news agency while being treated at a small hospital, the 68-year-old says the water rose "higher and higher" before it entered his home.
He adds that he tried to grab his wife's hand but she was "swept away", adding that the mud reached the top floor of his home before subsiding about an hour later.
"Four or five hours later, a helicopter came to rescue me. My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She's gone," he says.

PM Anthony Albanese confirms 34 Australians among the missingpublished at 01:28 BST
Simon Atkinson
Australia reporter

We’re getting more updates from governments in the Asia Pacific region on the situation in Nepal.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that 34 Australian citizens are among the missing. The country’s foreign minister Penny Wong is due to give a press conference a little later.
Meanwhile New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that it is aware of “a small number“ of Kiwis who are in the region and that it is in touch with their families.
But it stresses it has no “official or verified information” on who had been affected at this stage.
“New Zealand’s High Commission in India is also urgently seeking information from Nepalese authorities,” it added.
Emergency supplies sent to disaster sitepublished at 01:15 BST

Approximately eight tonnes of relief materials have been dispatched to areas affected by the flash flooding in the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal's Rasuwa region, Prime Minister Balendra Shah's office has said.
The secretariat says the materials were sent via eight Nepal army trucks on Wednesday evening, which among other items include 500 mosquito nets, 500 blankets, 500 solar lights, 500 solar panels and 220 sleeping bags.