Nepal, Tibet Flood Missing Toll Nears 3,000 as Rescuers Dig Through Mud
Nepal has asked China and India for help with DNA testing and body storage even as it insists it does not need outside search-and-rescue teams.
The number of people missing after a glacial collapse sent a wall of water and debris through the Himalayas has climbed to nearly 3,000, disaster officials in Nepal and China said Saturday, four days after the disaster struck.
Nepal's disaster authority put the confirmed death toll in the country at 675, according to The Guardian. Chinese state media reported seven deaths in Tibet, bringing the combined toll to 682. Indian authorities have recovered seven more bodies from rivers flowing out of Nepal, believed to be flood victims, The Guardian reported.
The missing list includes 517 foreigners and 933 workers from hydropower projects along the river the flood tore through, Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said. Also unaccounted for are 45 Nepali soldiers and 40 police officers who had been part of the rescue effort, according to The Guardian.
A Border Post Reduced To Ruins
When a Chinese rescue team finally reached the Gyirong border crossing on Friday, days after the flood hit, they found "nothing but ruins," The Guardian reported. Surveillance footage had shown the crossing engulfed by torrents of water and debris on Wednesday, with people struggling to flee. Gyirong is a key link in China's Belt and Road trade network connecting the country to South Asia.
Nepal's foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, said late Friday that the country is seeking foreign help with identifying and storing bodies, DNA testing, rescuing people trapped in tunnels, and reopening roads where about two dozen bridges were destroyed. He said Nepal does not need outside help with general search and rescue. "We think there is no need for repetition in this," Khanal said, according to The Guardian.
India has sent about 60 tons of relief supplies and a tunnel rescue team, while China has dispatched five tunnel specialists from Tibet, The Guardian reported.
Trapped Workers And Rising Lakes
In Nepal's Rasuwa district, rescuers have used drilling equipment to reach more than 100 people still trapped inside a hydropower tunnel after evacuating more than 350 others under what the prime minister's office called "extremely risky" conditions, according to The Guardian. Bad weather repeatedly halted the search before it resumed Saturday afternoon.
"People want their family member's body back, either dead or alive, but we cannot find them," said Kawan Koirala, a rescue worker with the Nepal Scout Disaster Response Team, after an 18-hour shift, The Guardian reported.
Officials are also watching two glacial lakes upstream that could still burst. Satellite images show one growing with no visible outlet, The Guardian reported, while Chinese state media said a second lake is shrinking, though a government geohazards expert warned it may still be unstable.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for stronger monitoring of glacial lakes at a politburo meeting, and Premier Li Qiang visited Gyirong on Thursday, according to Xinhua as reported by The Guardian. Nepal's finance minister, Swarnim Waglé, estimated the country will need $4 billion to $5 billion for rebuilding. The Red Cross estimates more than 90,000 people have been affected, and UNICEF said 17,000 children need humanitarian aid, according to Euronews.
Sources
Related coverage
Flash Floods In Nepal Leave Hundreds Missing, At Least Eight Dead
Floodwaters that surged from Tibet through Nepal's Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers have swept away roads and villages, and more than 300 tourists are among those unaccounted for.
Heavy Rain Kills at Least 16 in the Philippines as Floods Swamp Manila
A landslide buried three houses in the mountain resort of Baguio as nine days of rain, worsened by tropical storms, triggered floods and landslides across the northern Philippines.
Typhoon Dolphin Floods Shanghai, Forces More Than a Million Evacuations in China
The storm made landfall in Zhejiang province with winds of 151 kph before weakening, but its rains set a 150-year record in Shanghai and grounded hundreds of flights as the system pushes north toward Beijing.
Typhoon Dolphin Bears Down on China's East Coast, Forcing Mass Evacuations
China issued its highest typhoon alert and moved nearly 100,000 people to safety as the storm, already blamed for injuries in Japan, threatens major flooding in Zhejiang and neighboring provinces.