Officials have warned of another potential flood in Nepal as rescue efforts are paused by authorities for a short period. At least 33 British tourists are unaccounted for, and 350 people have been killed after a glacier collapse set off flash floods along the Bhote Koshi river.
Devastation in Rasuwa district
The flooding happened in the Rasuwa district, which borders China's autonomous region of Tibet. Two teenagers, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, are among the 1,000 still missing in the chaos.
Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said 469 bodies had been recovered, with 977 people remaining unaccounted for. They added that more than 3,000 had been rescued.
Rescue efforts paused
However, rescue efforts have been paused as a local lake has been rising in water level. According to officials, a barrier lake formed at the confluence of the Tsogyal and Purupqiangzangbu rivers is overflowing and could burst.
NDRRMA said satellite information from China suggested the river was 'blocked' and a lake had formed near the site of the floods. China's Ministry of Water Resources said the lake was expected to receive another three million cubic metres over the next three days.
An army officer confirmed that rescue operations were paused for the next 90 minutes, after reports that the lake in the flood-hit region began to overflow. Locals were seen rushing up the hill, according to a Reuters witness, as the helicopters were called off.
British nationals missing
On Thursday, the authority said 517 foreign nationals were out of contact. Among those unaccounted for are a senior Kent nurse, a Slough care agency director, a Croydon woman on pilgrimage, a south London Hindu priest leading a group of 11 Britons, and a Coventry couple.
Families in the UK are desperately awaiting news. The UK has offered £5 million to help the Nepalese government amid a 'very distressing and devastating situation', the Prime Minister has said.
Impact and response
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 appeared to show huge floodwaters surging through valleys as people screamed in terror, with bridges being washed away. Other videos showed people desperately fleeing uphill to escape the surging muddy floodwaters.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said on Thursday evening that the FCDO's crisis centre was working 'around the clock' to help Britons affected by the floods. In a post on social media, Miliband confirmed: 'We've offered an initial £5 million to help with the response to the effort in Nepal. And indeed we've also made an offer in my conversation with the foreign minister from Nepal this morning of search and rescue and other help should the Nepalese need it.'
Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, described the scene as being 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 females, aged 40, 46, 50, 50 and 53.
General manager Roshan Basnet told the Press Association: 'When the flood happened, they were still at the Chinese immigration (at) the border. After the flood happened, we had no contact with our tour guide.' He added: 'We have yet to get the confirmation of what state they're in, but as for the video that is circulating on the internet, we believe that it's a pretty difficult (situation).'
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 confirmed 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.
