International aid efforts intensified on Thursday as rescuers raced to reach flood-hit areas of Nepal and Tibet, while authorities warned that a newly formed lake at the disaster site was continuing to rise and could burst.
The catastrophic flash floods swept through valleys on Wednesday, destroying entire villages and leaving at least 389 people dead. More than 1,300 others remain missing.
Search operations have been severely disrupted by the destruction of dozens of bridges and approximately 25 miles (40km) of roads across the mountainous region, which is popular with trekkers and religious pilgrims.
Those missing include hundreds of tourists from India, the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada. Rescue teams have reportedly recovered bodies hundreds of miles downstream in Nepal’s Chitwan district.
Dozens of injured people were transported to Kathmandu for specialist medical treatment, while Nepali army helicopters rescued more than 100 survivors.
Videos of the disaster showed an enormous wall of water surging through the border region as residents attempted to escape. The speed and force of the flood left many people with almost no time to reach safety.
Homes, roads and power plants were swept away in Nepal, while trucks were overturned by the torrent. In Tibet, officials warned of “major casualties” after a mudslide struck a border crossing.
Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, described the flood as “horrifying”. He said emergency teams had been mobilised and an initial $2m (£1.5m) had been allocated for medical care, shelter and clean water.
Nepal’s disaster authority warned that the danger had not passed, urging residents and emergency workers to remain clear of a rapidly expanding lake at the flood site.
Chinese authorities said a barrier lake at the meeting point of the Tsogyal and Purupqiangzangbu rivers was overflowing and could burst.
Girilal Budhathoki, 36, from Rasuwa district in Nepal’s Bagmati province, said his wife and four children were swept away while he was away from the family home.
“A huge surge of water came,” he said. “Everything turned completely black, and I couldn’t understand what was happening. Suddenly, something heavy crushed me and I fell down.”
Budhathoki discovered the scale of the tragedy only after returning to where his home had stood.
“I searched desperately for my wife and children but I couldn’t find them,” he said. “They didn’t make it out. My wife was swept away too. I am all alone now.”
Kamal Kharel, who works at a hydropower plant in Chilime, also in Rasuwa district, was in his office when the floods struck.
“The whole place shook as if there had been a huge earthquake,” he said. “But when I went outside, I saw everything a storm and raging water.”
Kharel and several colleagues escaped by climbing a hill, where they remained until the army rescued them on Thursday morning.
“I had never seen waves crashing that high. You only see waves like that in the sea,” he said.
People from the badly affected districts of Nuwakot and Dhading gathered outside an army training centre being used as the base for helicopter rescue operations. Many were desperately seeking information about missing relatives.
Police recorded the names of those unaccounted for outside the barracks. With electricity supplies cut by damage to hydroelectric infrastructure, officers relied on mobile phone torches for light.
The village of Soley in Nuwakot, which contained about 25 homes, was almost completely destroyed, according to Kathmandu-based journalist Nirajan Paudyal, whose parents and other relatives lived there.
Paudyal travelled to the area on Thursday in search of information about his family.
“There is no update till now,” he said. “I fear there won’t be any update.”
Police and tourism officials said more than 500 foreigners were among 826 people missing in Nepal. Those unaccounted for included 177 Indian nationals, 90 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians.
Chinese state media reported that at least 558 people were missing on the Tibetan side of the border, including at least 260 foreign nationals.
Nepali police said 389 bodies had been recovered by Thursday afternoon. Chinese state media reported three confirmed deaths in Tibet.
Many of those caught in the disaster were travelling on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet considered sacred by Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other religions.
Early reports from Nepali officials suggested an earthquake may have caused part of a glacier to collapse and trigger the floods.
However, the US Geological Survey later said the event initially identified as a magnitude-4.4 earthquake was actually a seismic shock caused by collapsing rock and ice, followed by the movement of debris.
“No earthquake had occurred,” it said.
Srijana Gurung, acting Nepal director for the international NGO Plan International, said communities across the Himalayan country were experiencing “climate shock after shock” with little opportunity to recover.
“Floods and landslides have always happened in Nepal but the climate crisis is making them far more frequent and intense,” she said. “The priority now must be reaching those affected, supporting families searching for loved ones and ensuring vulnerable communities have the assistance they need.”
Gurung said children and families who had lost their homes and livelihoods urgently required medical assistance, food, shelter and hygiene supplies.
“There is also a risk of waterborne disease as access to clean water and sanitation is likely to have been damaged,” she said.
Limited information has emerged from Chinese authorities about the full extent of the destruction in Tibet, one of the most tightly controlled regions of China.
Foreign journalists are generally unable to visit Tibet unless participating in government-supervised tours. Tibetans also have limited contact with international media because of fears of official retaliation.
Only brief reports from state-controlled media have circulated within China, with authorities confirming three deaths and focusing primarily on rescue operations.
