Rescue teams in Nepal and China are intensifying efforts to find nearly 3,000 people reported missing after devastating floods and landslides swept through parts of the Himalayan region.
At least 633 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, while hundreds of others remain unaccounted for, according to authorities in both countries.
The flooding, which struck on Wednesday, sent a massive surge of water, mud and debris through communities, destroying homes, roads and infrastructure and leaving thousands of people stranded.
Nepal’s disaster authorities said 626 people had died, while 2,426 others, including hundreds of foreign nationals, remained out of contact.
The authorities also added 933 workers at hydropower projects to the list of missing persons as rescue operations continued.
In China’s Tibet region, seven deaths and 554 missing persons were reported by state news agency Xinhua.
The disaster has also affected pilgrims and tourists travelling towards Mount Kailash, a major religious destination in Tibet.
A survivor, Buddhi Dangol, described the extent of the devastation, saying, “All the settlements near the river were swept away. There is nothing left.”
Another survivor, Samjhana Thing, said her family had been desperately waiting for information about her missing brother.
“We don’t know anything. Hopefully he is in a safe place,” she said.
The Red Cross estimated that up to 93,000 people could have been affected by the disaster, warning that the psychological impact on survivors had been enormous.
Rescue efforts have been complicated by fears of additional flooding, after the heavy rains and melting ice caused large bodies of water to form in several areas.
Nepali police reportedly warned rescue workers to move to safer locations after receiving information that another water barrier had burst on the Tibetan side of the border.
Chinese authorities also temporarily suspended rescue operations in the worst-hit area of Gyirong over concerns about renewed flooding, although officials later said the immediate danger had reduced.
Meanwhile, rescue operations continued at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project in Nepal, where workers were trapped inside a tunnel.
Nepalese Army spokesman Raja Basnet said helicopters had been deployed but that reaching the trapped workers was difficult because rescuers were struggling to locate the tunnel entrances.
“Two helicopters have been dispatched, but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,” Basnet said.
About 350 workers and residents were rescued from the hydropower site, while efforts continued to reach more than 100 people still believed to be trapped.
Survivors from other hydropower projects in the Trishuli Valley said the flooding happened with little warning.
Buddha Tamang, a worker who survived after taking shelter inside a tunnel, said many of his colleagues were not as fortunate.
“The senior officers working on the other side, they were all swept away,” he said.
The scale of the disaster has also extended beyond Nepal and China, with Indian authorities recovering seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal. The victims are believed to have been swept away by the floods.
In Tibet, authorities said 555 stranded tourists and 499 Chinese residents had been evacuated.
The catastrophe has also disrupted pilgrimage journeys, with several Hindu devotees among those reported missing while travelling towards Mount Kailash.
One pilgrim, Sivaranjani Muthunathan, said she was travelling with 56 other people when their bus became trapped.
She said the group initially thought they had encountered a traffic obstruction before conditions suddenly deteriorated.
“Then there was fog, smoke, something that seemed to suddenly engulf us,” she said.
Muthunathan said members of the group escaped through the driver’s side of the vehicle and climbed towards higher ground as vehicles around them were swept away or buried by mud.
Authorities fear the death toll could increase as rescue teams gain access to more affected communities and continue searching for missing persons.
