At least 160 people have died, while officials believe 340 foreign nationals from India, the US, UK, Australia, Malaysia and Ukraine among those missing. Follow the latest news
A glacial collapse caused seismic activity and “catastrophic” downstream impacts in Nepal and Tibet, the US Geological Survey is saying.
Seismic activity initially reported as an earthquake “was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow” that “caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream”, the agency said on Thursday, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
Rescue teams are rushing on Thursday to find hundreds of people missing after the flood and landslides killed at least 160 people. Many of the missing were foreign tourists, officials said.
Nepali police said they had recovered 157 bodies after “devastating floods”, with officers working to move families in flood-risk areas to safety. Chinese state media reported “major casualties” from a mudslide at a Tibet border hub, reporting three dead and another 265 missing. The overall death toll appears likely to rise.
Tibet government officials mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers and 150 vehicles as well as sniffer dogs and speed boats to help the rescue efforts, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.
At least 403 tourists – 341 of them foreigners – were unaccounted for several hours after the disaster struck on Wednesday morning, according to Nepal’s tourism ministry. The missing foreigners included 142 Indians, 33 from the UK, 47 from the US, 34 from Australia and 24 from Canada as well as others from South Korea, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Portugal and South Africa, the tourism board said. Nine South Koreans were missing, the country’s foreign ministry said.
At least 28 Nepal police officials were missing, a police spokesperson said.
Entire villages and markets were “wiped out”, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said. It was dispatching emergency supplies including blankets, first aid kits, stretchers and body bags.
