By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
At least 31 persons have been killed and nearly 400 tourists and others are missing after a flood and mudslide along the Nepal-Tibet border washed away villages and damaged roads and infrastructure, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported on Wednesday.
The flood hit early on Wednesday in Rasuwa, just north of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, with preliminary information suggesting it was caused by an earthquake triggering an avalanche with melted snow pouring into the Bhote Koshi river.
Search operations are under way on both sides of the border and 88 people have been rescued so far, according to the Nepalese army.
State media in China, which controls Tibet, say there are significant casualties and Nepalese officials said they anticipate “huge scale loss.”
The Nepal tourism board said work was under way to establish the whereabouts of 291 tourists and 93 Nepalese nationals, including guides, who were known to be in the area where the flood hit.
They included 12 travellers from the UK as well as Americans, Malaysians, South Africans and Indians.
Several areas downstream of the Bhote Koshi river, which flows from Tibet to Nepal, are on high alert and roads, communications and power in the region have been disrupted. The authorities say the main road to Kathmandu is closed.
Verified videos from Nepal show a bridge being swept away and multi-storey buildings collapsed by the force of floodwaters, as well as a town with many buildings destroyed.
BBC Verify has located the clips to the town of Trishuli Bazaar area of Nuwakot District in Bagmati Province, about 25km to the north-west of Kathmandu.
The video shows the river Trishuli suddenly becoming swollen by enormous amounts of water, which appears to have significantly increased in volume and speed and filled with sediment.
About 40 seconds into the clip, the weight of the flash flood rips the bridge off of its supports and carries it swiftly downriver. A few seconds later, several buildings also collapse.
The second verified video, filmed from the same location, shows the devastating aftermath. The river’s level has risen significantly, trees and many buildings visible in the earlier video have been ripped away.
