SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Follow our live coverage of the Nepal floods here.
Warning: This story contains graphic content.
Thirty-four Australians are among hundreds reported missing after an avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods that swept through parts of Nepal and China on Wednesday, killing at least 160 people and causing widespread damage to villages and infrastructure.
Nepalese officials said 403 people – including 341 foreign nationals – were reported missing. Sunil Sharma, a tourism board spokesperson, said 133 were from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.
Also missing were 47 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 24 from Canada, he said.
One of the 34 missing Australians was on a trekking tour with a Kathmandu-based operator when the catastrophic flooding hit, according to information provided by the Nepalese tourism board.
Videos posted online show roads and bridges in northern Nepal’s mountainous Rasuwa district being washed away by sudden flooding that struck about 8.30 am (12.30 AEST).
An initial analysis of satellite imagery suggests that a flood occurred in the Lhende River due to a landslide on the Nepal-China border, according to a post on X by Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
Initial reports from Nepalese officials suggested that an earthquake could have caused the lower part of a glacier to collapse and trigger the floods. The USGS later said that a tremor recorded at the time was caused by the glacial rock and ice collapsing to the valley floor.
How has the Australian government responded?
Confirming the number of Australians missing in the disaster, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese highlighted the difficulties in getting information out of Nepal.
“Nepal, you know, is a developing country. It doesn’t have the resources that an event like that would have in Australia, so information is difficult,” he said, speaking from the Bush Summit in Dubbo.
“Our thoughts are with all those who’ll be concerned about their loved ones today.”
Earlier, Albanese said officials were urgently working with local authorities and tour operators to confirm the welfare of the missing.
“We stand ready to provide consular assistance. Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities,” he said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the loss of life and destruction caused by flash flooding as “devastating”, while Australia’s Nepal embassy issued a joint statement with the embassies of Finland, France, Norway, Switzerland and Britain expressing “solidarity with the people of Nepal during this difficult time”.
“We encourage all those in affected areas to follow the guidance of local authorities and official safety advisories as the situation continues to evolve,” the statement read.
Tour groups Intrepid Travel and G Adventures confirmed that all tourists in their groups and staff in the region were safe.
What is the death toll, and how many people are missing?
Nepalese police said 157 bodies have so far been recovered. Neighbouring China has reported at least three people killed and 265 missing in a community on the Tibetan side of the border.
Thousands of people also live in riverside settlements downstream from the flooding, including along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers. Nepalese authorities have not estimated the number of people missing and the extent of damage, but said that bridges, schools and hydropower projects have been swept away, The New York Times reported.
Sunil Sharma, a Nepal Tourism Board spokesperson, told the Toronto Star that 133 of the missing tourists were from India on a pilgrimage.
At least 62 missing Nepalese citizens were among hundreds of locals trekking in the Gosaikunda Lake area in Rasuwa, coinciding with the local festival of Janai Purnima on Friday, Sharma added.
Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told the Associated Press that at least 28 police officials were unaccounted for.
Nine South Koreans working on a hydropower plant are also missing, and 10 others are stranded, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said late on Wednesday.
Which regions were hit?
The Bhotekoshi River flooded about 9am on Wednesday (around 1pm AEST), destroying several villages as well as roads and hydropower projects, officials said.
Warnings were issued in several districts urging people to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers.
Torrential floods triggered a mudslide that hit Gyirong Port, a major land crossing with neighbouring Tibet, cutting roads, communications, and power links to the area.
Nepal’s security personnel have rescued more than 250 people with an army helicopter, while police and the military continue searching in flood-affected areas, Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a Facebook post.
“We have asked both India and China to help us with the rescue efforts,” said Sasmit Pokharel, a spokesperson for the Nepali government.
China has deployed at least 574 rescuers to the land crossing, and India says it was coordinating closely with Kathmandu on rescue and relief efforts.
People living in low-lying regions were being moved to safer areas, and those along the river have been advised to remain alert, as authorities warn that a second flood may occur because a blockage remains upstream.
Flood alerts have also been issued in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which border Nepal, since several rivers flow down the Himalayas into their plains.
The worst-affected area, Rasuwa district, witnessed flash floods similar to those in August last year, when a glacial lake in neighbouring Tibet overflowed due to high temperatures in the mountain region. Nine people lost their lives, and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting the two countries, was damaged at the time.
Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development say an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.
The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River, experienced its highest flooding on Wednesday, they said.
“The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in 14 months, this time triggered by an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” said Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the climate research group.
“In a warming Himalaya, early warning is the first line of adaptation,” he added.
The Himalayan region, which spans Nepal and several neighbouring countries, including India, is especially vulnerable to heavy rains, floods, and landslides because it is warming faster than the rest of the world due to human-caused climate change.
Research has shown that extreme weather events, including heat waves, heavy rains and melting glaciers, have become more frequent in the region.
Members of the Kathmandu research group found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting at an accelerating rate, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000 primarily due to rising global temperatures and climate change.
Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135, or +61 2 6261 3305 (if calling from overseas).
AP, Reuters with Josefine Ganko
Read more on the Nepal flood disaster:
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
