Over 500 foreign citizens among 826 missing in Nepal
Rescue operations resumed in Nepal and Tibet on Friday after a pause when a lake at the border began to overflow, The Guardian reported. The lake formed when a wall of mud and debris hit the border hub of Gyirong in Tibet on Wednesday, causing catastrophic flash floods that thundered down valleys and obliterated villages.
The death toll reached 469 on Friday, with more than 1,300 people missing. More than 500 foreign citizens were among 826 people missing in Nepal, police and tourism officials said.
On the Tibet side of the border, Chinese state media reported that at least 260 of the 558 people missing were foreign nationals.
The Guardian said satellite imagery suggests a glacier collapse high in the Himalayas was the primary cause of the flooding, raising concerns that the climate crisis is destabilizing the geology of mountain and polar regions.
Photographs published with the report showed a member of the security forces and his sniffer dog searching for survivors in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on 27 August.
The Guardian described the disaster as a developing story, with rescue efforts continuing across the region.