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🇹🇭 Thailand /Disasters & Emergencies

Nepal-China flood disaster: Missing toll nears 3,000 as rescue efforts continue

From Bangkok Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources Ongoing story
  • Nearly 3,000 people were missing after catastrophic flooding struck the border area between Nepal and Tibet, with 691 bodies recovered and Nepal reporting 675 deaths.
  • More than 100 workers may be trapped in hydropower tunnels, prompting specialized rescue teams from India and China to assist Nepal.
  • Nepal’s foreign minister said reconstruction could cost billions of dollars, while authorities estimated that up to 93,000 people may be affected.

Nearly 3,000 people remained missing Sunday after a tsunami-like flood tore through the Himalayan border region between Nepal and Tibet. Rescuers searched through deep, mud-filled terrain for survivors as the toll continued to rise.

sending air through the small opening

· Sudan GurungNepal’s home minister described the army’s effort to provide air to workers trapped in a hydropower tunnel.

Figures from Nepal and Chinese authorities in Tibet put the number missing close to 3,000, with 691 bodies recovered. Nepal said 2,426 people, including hundreds of foreigners, remained out of contact and reported 675 deaths on Saturday. China’s state broadcaster CCTV said 546 people were missing and 16 had died in Tibet, including 261 foreign nationals among those unaccounted for.

Independent reporting from Tibet remained limited because the autonomous region was largely inaccessible to foreign journalists. The disaster struck an area containing multiple villages, making the full scale of the destruction difficult to establish.

I have come here looking for my son.

· Kalka ShardaA relative searched rescue lists at an army base in Bidur.

More than 100 workers were believed trapped inside several hydropower tunnels. Nepal’s army managed late Saturday to insert a pipe into one tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site, “sending air through the small opening,” Home Minister Sudan Gurung said. Those workers formed part of a group of 933 hydropower employees reported missing from projects along rivers hit by the torrent of icy debris. India sent an 11-person specialist team, while China dispatched a nine-person tunnel rescue team.

He was a labourer at the hydropower plant, but I can’t find his name, and the authorities are not saying anything.

· Kalka ShardaSharda explained why she was searching for her missing son.

At an army base in Bidur, a major rescue hub, relatives gathered around lists of rescued people. “I have come here looking for my son,” said Kalka Sharda. “He was a labourer at the hydropower plant, but I can’t find his name, and the authorities are not saying anything.” Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said Nepal’s reconstruction bill could reach “billions of dollars” and appealed to the international community for support. India also increased monitoring of glaciers and glacial lakes near its borders with Nepal and China after the flood apparently followed a glacial collapse.

billions of dollars

· Shisir KhanalNepal’s foreign minister estimated the potential cost of reconstruction.
About this summary

Originally published by Bangkok Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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