Nepal-Tibet border floods kill at least 160, hundreds missing

Rescue teams are urgently searching for hundreds of people missing along the Nepal-Tibet border after flash floods and landslides claimed at least 160 lives. The disaster has obliterated entire villages and market areas, leaving authorities concerned that the death toll may continue to rise.

Surveillance footage from the Chinese side of the border captured a terrifying scene of a massive wall of mud and debris surging over buildings on August 26, engulfing structures as people desperately fled. The powerful surge swept away vehicles, including buses and cars, with ease. Chinese state media reported significant casualties and hundreds missing from a mudslide at a Tibet border hub.

Nepali police have recovered 157 bodies and are working to evacuate families from flood-risk zones. In response, Tibet government officials mobilized nearly 800 emergency workers, 150 vehicles, sniffer dogs, and speed boats. Rescuers are navigating through thick mud and sludge to search for survivors, with floodwaters having submerged the lower floors of multi-story buildings.

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Entire villages and market areas have been wiped out.

According to Nepal's tourism ministry, approximately 403 tourists, including 341 foreigners, were unaccounted for hours after the disaster. The missing foreigners include 142 Indians and individuals from Australia, Britain, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States. David Fisher, the Nepal head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), described the devastation, stating that "entire villages and market areas have been wiped out."

Adding to the concern, experts have warned that a potential blockage in a river could lead to further flooding. Locals have been traumatized by the events, with one resident, Raju Bhadel, sharing a harrowing account of his brother still missing after their entire house was swept away. The exact cause of the flooding is still under investigation, but Nepal's Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal suggested that an earthquake may have triggered a landslide, which subsequently dammed a river, leading to the catastrophic downstream surge. Satellite data from Nepal's disaster authority indicates a "snow-rock landslide" on the Nepal-China border may be responsible.

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I got a call from (my brother-in-law) this morning, and they were crying and said their entire house had been swept away. Three family members were rescued, but his brother is still missing.