The death toll from the catastrophic flooding on the border between Nepal and China has risen to more than 500, while over 1,500 people are missing, UNN writes, citing AP.
Details
On Friday, rescuers pulled survivors covered in dark-brown mud to safety, while helicopters airlifted people to safe locations.
Nepal’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said the death toll had risen to 538, while more than 3,700 people had been rescued. Later, Nepalese police reported that the death toll had risen to 547.
Meanwhile, there was little information about survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to five on Friday, as state media showed the evacuation of villages and leaders’ efforts to manage the emergency response, the publication writes.
Chinese state media had earlier reported that 558 people were missing. Nepal’s disaster management agency said on Friday that 977 people were still considered missing. Hundreds of them were foreigners who had come to the area for work, trekking, or pilgrimage to the sacred peak.
Nepalese police issued a new warning on Friday after receiving information about a dam breach on the Tibetan side. Security personnel and rescuers were ordered to remain on heightened alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary.
It was unclear whether the dam breach was related to concerns about flooding caused by a barrier lake that formed after the initial flash floods high in the Chinese part of the Himalayas. China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the lake is located at an altitude of 2,950 meters.
Nepalese police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told The Associated Press that the rescue operation was continuing, but with heightened vigilance. "It has not stopped," he said.
Nepalese army rescuers were working to help people trapped in a hydropower plant tunnel in Rasuwa, which is part of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project.
Army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet told AP that the main focus was on the survivors.
"It is difficult to find entry and exit points in the tunnel because everything is covered in mud," Basnet said. "Our top priority is rescuing the people who are trapped."
Nepal’s disaster management agency said that 3,253 people had been evacuated by helicopter from the disaster zone. Survivors, including the injured, were taken to Kathmandu and other locations.
Nepal’s tourism authority reported that more than 500 foreigners were among those missing.