Nepal-Tibet floods death toll reaches 626, nearly 3,000 missing

At least 626 people have been killed and around 3,000 are still missing following torrential flash floods that tore through Nepal and Tibet, with rescue efforts continuing Saturday to find more survivors, officials said.

A total of 626 people have died in Nepal, and 2,426 are missing in the country. In the Tibet region of China, on the other side of the border, authorities have recorded seven dead and 554 missing, bringing the total number of missing to 2,980.

The devastation began Wednesday after a glacier collapsed, triggering a wave of water, ice, mud and rocks surging through villages and communities across the Nepal-China border.

The floods razed homes, bridges, roads and power infrastructure, leaving tens of thousands stranded and communications knocked out. Rescue efforts have been made difficult by bad weather and rugged terrain, with Nepal’s army carrying out operations to locate more than 100 individuals who are feared trapped in a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.

More than 3,700 have been rescued in Nepal so far. “Two helicopters have been dispatched, but it is challenging because it is tough even to identify the location of the tunnels”, said Nepalese army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet, as quoted by AFP.