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Gigantic flash floods in Nepal on Wednesday left at least 72 people dead and hundreds of tourists, workers, and others missing, while also devastating communities and paralyzing travel in parts of the Himalayan country.
The government of China, across the northern border, also launched search and rescue efforts, with heavy casualties reported in the Tibetan border area of Gyirong, state broadcaster CCTV reported. No immediate death toll was provided.
Officials in Nepal said 384 tourists were reported missing, including 291 from countries such as United States, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia. Officials from the Nepal Tourism Board noted that most of the missing were likely tourists from India and the Indian diaspora on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, a sacred site for Hindus.
Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle, who provided the death toll, also told The Associated Press that at least 28 police officers were among the missing.
Officials issued warnings to residents of several districts in Nepal and asked them to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli, and Narayani rivers. The Bhotekoshi River overflowed around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, destroying several villages as well as roads and hydroelectric projects, according to officials.
“We have asked both India and China to assist us in the rescue efforts,” said Sasmit Pokharel, a spokesperson for the Nepalese government.
Nepal’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors, but they are precarious when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in the hard-hit Nuwakot district covered in mud after the torrent passed. Debris hung from tree branches and power lines, vehicles were buried, and stunned survivors were covered in mud.
The United States Geological Survey reported a 4.4 magnitude earthquake early Wednesday, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Trishuli River runs roughly parallel to a road north of the Kathmandu area used to access one of Nepal’s most popular treks in the Langtang region.
Countries express alarm over missing citizens
South Korean authorities noted that their citizens working on the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Nepal were among the missing.
The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated that its embassy in Kathmandu has received reports from travel agencies that they had lost contact with 11 Malaysians believed to be in the Rasuwa district, which was hard-hit by the floods.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities were conducting large-scale search and rescue operations in the Tibetan border area of Gyirong, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered authorities to intensify efforts, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah and offered help. “India is prepared to provide Nepal with all possible humanitarian assistance. Our teams are closely coordinating rescue and relief operations,” Modi said in a social media post.
In a joint statement, Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Finland, France, Norway, and Switzerland expressed solidarity with those affected in Nepal, adding: “We encourage everyone in the affected areas to follow the guidance of local authorities and official safety warnings as the situation continues to evolve.”
Flash floods last year in the same region
The same regions affected by Wednesday’s disaster recorded similar flash floods in August last year, when a glacial lake in neighboring Tibet overflowed due to high temperatures in the mountainous region. Nine people lost their lives and damage was recorded to critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China.
Climate experts from the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development noted that an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.
The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River, reached its peak flood level on Wednesday, they noted.
“The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in fourteen months; this time the trigger was an avalanche of ice and rock from a glacier on the Nepalese side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” explained Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the climate research group.
He noted the importance of early warnings in “a warming Himalayas.”
The Himalayan region, which spans Nepal and several nearby countries, including India, is particularly vulnerable to heavy rain, flooding, and landslides because it is warming faster than the rest of the planet due to human-induced climate change. Research has shown that extreme weather phenomena, including heat waves, heavy rains, and melting glaciers, have become more frequent in the region.
Researchers in Kathmandu found earlier this year that glaciers throughout the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting at an accelerated rate, with ice loss rates having doubled since 2000, primarily due to rising global temperatures and climate change.
[Publicidad]