Nepal, China Floods: Nearly 3,000 Missing, 633 Dead as Rescuers Battle Tsunami-Like Deluge

Rescuers in Nepal and China are engaged in a desperate battle to locate thousands of people missing following a catastrophic deluge that swept through the Himalayan region. The disaster, described as a tsunami-like wall of water and debris, has engulfed villages, leaving a trail of devastation.

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All the settlements near the river were swept away. There is nothing left.

Latest figures indicate that the number of missing has soared close to 3,000, with 633 bodies recovered. There are concerns that some of the deceased may have been swept downstream as far as India. In Nepal, the disaster authority has added 933 hydropower workers to the list of missing persons, which already includes trekkers and pilgrims en route to Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash.

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We don’t know anything. Hopefully he is in a safe place.

Survivors recount losing everything, facing an agonizing wait for news of loved ones and the immense challenge of rebuilding their lives from nothing. "All the settlements near the river were swept away. There is nothing left," one survivor told AFP. The Red Cross estimates that as many as 93,000 people may have been affected by the catastrophe, with the death toll expected to rise.

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The trauma of Wednesday’s catastrophe has been “enormous,” and as many as 93,000 people may have been affected, the Red Cross said, with the death toll expected to rise.

Compounding the search efforts are fears of further flooding. The deluge of ice and mud created large lakes, and one of these formations poses a direct threat to emergency workers. Nepali police have urged rescuers to move to safety due to reports of a "water dam that has burst again on the Tibetan side." Chinese authorities in Tibet suspended their rescue operation in the hardest-hit area of Gyirong due to renewed flood risks, though later reported the threat had eased.

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Nepali police urged all rescuers to “immediately move to a safe location,” saying they had received information that “a water dam has burst again on the Tibetan side.”