Rescuers have been urged to remain on high alert after a dam burst its banks again in Nepal following devastating flash floods. More than 30 British nationals are among hundreds of people missing and feared dead as rescue efforts continue after flooding in the Rasuwa district, which borders China’s autonomous region of Tibet.
Death toll and missing numbers rise
China and Nepal have said more than 1,500 people are missing, as Nepalese Police said the death toll in the country had risen to 547. On Friday, Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said the search operation had not stopped, but rescuers have been urged to immediately move to a safe location if necessary.
His update came as a dam on the Tibet side of the China/Nepal border burst again. China’s Ministry of Water Resources said the lake was expected to receive another three million cubic metres over the next three days.
Rescue efforts and international response
According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 977 people remained unaccounted for and more than 3,000 had been rescued. The authority said 517 foreign nationals were out of contact. NDRRMA also confirmed 14,829 security personnel have been drafted in for search and rescue operations. The Nepal Army said it had sent a team to the border to inspect the Bhotekoshi River.
British Red Cross’s head of Asia region Rajesh Srivastava told Times Radio on Friday it was a “very challenging” situation and the destruction had hit essential infrastructure. He said: “The full-scale disaster is still unfolding. It’s a very hard to reach area but it’s clear that the community have been devastated, families have lost their homes, livelihoods, many people are dead and missing and essential infrastructure has been damaged.”
On Thursday, the Prime Minister said the UK offered £5 million to help the Nepalese government amid a “very distressing and devastating situation”. The King said he and the Queen were “heartbroken” and sent their “most profound sympathy” to those affected.
Impact on British nationals
Flash floods on Wednesday caused rivers to burst their banks and covered populated areas in thick mud, burying houses and creating difficult conditions for rescuers. Videos posted on social media showed floodwater surging through valleys as people screamed in terror, and bridges being washed away. Other videos showed people fleeing uphill to escape the surging muddy floodwater.
Two teenagers, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, are among the 33 British nationals believed to be unaccounted for. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Thursday that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s crisis centre was working “around the clock” to help Britons.
An Essex nurse said his relatives were “swept away” by the floods, as he launched a fundraiser to support those affected by the disaster. Rajendra Pudasaini, president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association UK, said Nepal was witnessing an “irreplaceable loss” and the country was “paying the price for global warming”. The nurse, who works at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex, told the Press Association: “My wife’s auntie and uncle, and their granddaughter and her husband are missing, and my godson as well. They’re gone. The speed the water came, they couldn’t be saved, they were just swept away. The town and the villages were swept away, it’s a tragic thing.”
Missing pilgrims and ongoing search
Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, described the scene as like a “tsunami from the sky” and that villages have been “completely wiped out”. Nepalese officials said bridges have been destroyed and nearly 25 miles of roads have been damaged, which has complicated search efforts.
A number of those missing had been making a pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu site of Mount Kailash, Nepalese tour operator The Trekkers’ Society said. The operator said nine British nationals on one of its tours to the site were among those unaccounted for – four males, aged 14, 50, 50 and 54, and five women, aged 40, 46, 50, 50 and 53.
Travel logs obtained by PA show three men aged 65, 64 and 52, and seven women aged 44, 47, 51, 60, 63, 63 and 65, are also among the missing British nationals. Tour operator Kailash Journeys said it had not been able to account for seven UK nationals – five women and two men aged between 18 and 55 – travelling with the company.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said 558 people remained unaccounted for in neighbouring Tibet. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said a magnitude 5.2 seismic event occurred near the border between Nepal and China on Wednesday at 8.37am local time. It added that a “glacial collapse and debris flow” caused “subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream”.
The FCDO said: “British nationals in Nepal should follow local authority advice and exercise caution while travelling. For consular assistance call (+44) (0)207 008 5000 or (+977) (0)14237100.”
