By Desire Emmanuel with Agency Reports
Over 170 people were killed when floods tore through a Himalayan river valley between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous Chinese territory, the authorities said. Hundreds were missing, including foreign tourists, the New York Times reported on Wednesday night.
Floodwaters and mud crashed through Himalayan river valleys and swallowed villages on Wednesday, creating a cross-border crisis in Nepal and the Chinese territory of Tibet.
Thousands of people live in riverside settlements downstream from the flooding. At least 25 vehicle bridges and 40 kilometres of roads have been swept away, according to a statement from Nepal’s prime minister.
Videos broadcast by regional news outlets and posted on social media show violent torrents of water surging through valleys and mountain passes, tearing down bridges and dams and sweeping away buildings.
Hikmat Singh Ayer, CEO and senior director of Nepal’s Tourism Board, told reporters that over 420 people were unaccounted for after the flooding. He said that among the missing foreign nationals are 33 Americans, 34 Australians, 24 Canadians, 4 Germans, 19 Malaysians, one Israeli, among others.
Nepal President, Ramachandra Paudel, said he was “extremely saddened” by the “loss of lives and property caused by the sudden flood.”
He called on the government, political parties, agencies and the general public to intensify rescue and relief efforts.
“There could be heavy casualties or loss of property,” district administrator Narendra Pariyar was quoted as saying by Reuters. He has also urged people living along the banks of the Bhote Koshi River to move to higher ground.
Nepal’s mountainous terrain, dotted with deep valleys and narrow gorges, makes rescue and relief operations challenging. Helicopters could not land in the affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure.
Most of the missing foreigners were on trips organized by tourism and travel companies.
The flash flood was caused by an earthquake that triggered a large landslide, which blocked the Bhote Koshi River, according to Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) confirmed that six of its major hydropower and transmission facilities were damaged in the flooding.
“We do not exactly know the extent of damage, but the flood is big, and it could have damaged many settlements,” Nepal Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told the French news agency AFP. “We have alerted people who are staying near the riverside to relocate … and deployed all our resources.”
