SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank you for joining our coverage of the deadly flash floods in Nepal and Tibet. Here’s what you need to know:
Warning: This story contains graphic content.
- Thirty-four Australians are among hundreds of people reported missing after an avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods that swept through parts of Nepal and China on Wednesday. Two boys aged 11 and 14 are among a group of 15 Australians who were travelling together through the region with a US-based tourism operator when the catastrophic floods hit. The entire travel group is yet to be accounted for.
- Nepal police said 157 bodies had so far been recovered. Neighbouring China has reported at least three people killed and 265 missing in a border community in Tibet. More than 400 tourists are unaccounted for, according to officials in Nepal, including from Australia, India, the US, UK and Canada.
- The deadly flooding was likely set off at least in part by an enormous chunk of ice snapping off a glacier and cascading thousands of feet to the valley below, according to an initial assessment by a group of geologists and glaciologists, in a phenomenon known as an ice avalanche.
- Significant casualties were reported at the Gyirong Port, on the border between China and Nepal. Surveillance footage (below) shows crowds running up a road near the port before torrents of water and thick clouds engulf the parking lot and surrounding buildings, destroying the area. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered an “all-out” search-and-rescue effort to find survivors.
Read more on the Nepal flood disaster:
Hundreds of foreign nationals are missing in the Nepal floods that have killed at least 157 people and left more than 558 unaccounted for.
Nepal is a popular travel destination for hikers and climbers, with the mountainous nation hosting some of the world’s highest peaks, including Mount Everest.
- About 111 people missing were suspected to be foreign nationals but have yet to have their nationalities confirmed, the Nepal Tourism Board said.
- At least 142 Indian nationals were unaccounted for, according to the Nepal Tourism Board. They were reported to be travelling in the country with several tourism agencies.
- Ukraine’s foreign ministry told BBC News Ukraine that 53 Ukrainian citizens were missing as a result of the flash floods, citing information from Nepalese authorities. The ministry added that there was no information indicating the Ukrainian citizens were among the dead or injured, and it had been receiving messages from relatives of the missing, the BBC reported.
- 17 Malaysians were missing, the tourism board said.
- Twelve people from the United Kingdom were missing, according to the tourism board.
- Nine South Koreans who work on a hydroelectric power plant in the region were missing, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.
The US has promised $US500,000 ($696,000) in aid for emergency shelter, relief items, water, sanitation and hygiene assistance to flood-affected areas.
The US State Department said it was “closely monitoring the situation and was deploying a disaster response adviser to the region to support response efforts”.
“The United States extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the devastating flash floods in the Rasuwa district of Nepal.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected by this disaster.”
At least 47 Americans are reportedly among the hundreds of people missing.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney described the floods as “absolutely devastating”. He said on X that Canada was closely monitoring the situation and stood ready to provide support.
The Red Cross Society of China has sprung into action and is sending 2500 sets of relief supplies to the disaster zone in Tibet, including tents, medical kits, folding beds and waterproof jackets, Chinese state media reported.
The Red Cross has also sent 5000 boxes of food supplies, including bottled water, instant noodles, sausages, and milk.
Melbourne-based university student Raksha Panday said her family’s home near the Trishuli river has been destroyed by the floods.
She said her mother was able to rescue the family’s pet dogs and flee with her 23-year-old sister just before midnight, Nepal time.
They are currently sheltering with hundreds of people at a community centre on a nearby hilltop.
“The network is still very bad in that area, but they are going to move to a safe place or come to Kathmandu Valley once the roads are cleared,” Raskha said.
In the first update of potential casualties since yesterday, China has revised the number of missing in the floods to 558, up from 265.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday that these figures included 260 foreign nationals. The number of people confirmed dead by Chinese authorities remains at three.
However, it is unclear whether these casualties relate to victims on China’s Tibet side of the border, or whether they overlap with the estimates released by Nepalese police, which puts the dead at 157 and 400 missing, with the numbers expected to rise.
China has dispatched a 111-person search and rescue team to the disaster zone. A group of military officials on board a People’s Liberation Army Y-20 aircraft – a large military supply plane – is also en route to the region, and will coordinate forces on the ground, according to Chinese state media.
Rescuers in Nepal used helicopters today to scour for hundreds still missing after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border with Tibet, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys, killing at least 162.
More than 400 foreigners were among 579 tourists missing, Nepal tourism officials said, after the disaster swept a region thronged by trekkers and pilgrims. Police expect the death toll to rise beyond 162.
“This will go up, as we have resumed the search and more bodies are expected to be recovered,” police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told Reuters.
Among the missing tourists, 47 are from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 24 from Canada, Sunil Sharma, a spokesperson for Nepal’s tourism board, told the Associated Press news agency.
The tally of missing people in Tibet’s Gyirong county was 558, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said a little while ago, including 260 foreign nationals. It was not immediately clear if the two nations’ figures overlap.
Verified videos show crushing masses of water and debris sweeping away dozens of people at a border crossing in Gyirong, and homes, roads and power projects being washed away further downstream in Nepal.
Reuters
Asked whether Australia would send army members to Nepal, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the priority was aiding existing Nepalese resources in the remote and mountainous region.
“I think the focus at the moment is to support local authorities,” she said.
“Obviously, this is in the border region, and I know when I spoke to my ambassador in China … the Chinese authorities will be deploying resources. It is quite a remote part of the region. Obviously, a long way from Beijing, and obviously Nepal is a very mountainous country.”
She said Nepal had not yet asked for help, but that she anticipated it would.
“If you look at the footage and the destruction, and we know this is a country that may not have the resources that will be needed to deal with the recovery either by themselves, so they are likely to need a helping hand.”
Penny Wong said Australia was considering what aid it could offer Nepal after sending more DFAT personnel to the region to assist Australians caught in the destruction.
“I’ve spoken this morning to the ambassador for Australia to Nepal, Simon Ernst, and I have also spoken to Scott Dewar, our ambassador in Beijing. I’ve conveyed to them our support, my request that they do everything they are able to, to ascertain the whereabouts and welfare of any Australians, and invited them to contact me if they need further assistance,” the foreign minister told reporters in Adelaide.
“We are currently deploying further DFAT personnel, including crisis response experts, to the region. I’ve asked DFAT to ensure that we do provide the support needed to these posts, particularly our post in Nepal. The department will continue to engage with local authorities and tour operators.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she could not yet provide an update on the Australians missing in Nepal, as the government urgently sought more information on their wellbeing and whereabouts.
“We will be in touch with their loved ones as soon as we have any confirmed information that we can share,” she added.
Wong said “at least” 34 Australians were unaccounted for. It is understood that number is based on reports from tour companies and does not include independent travellers, so it could rise as information filters out of the devastated region.
“We understand these Australians were part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups,” Wong told reporters in Adelaide.
“I’m not in a position to provide any further details about them at this stage. The government’s priority is to confirm the whereabouts and welfare of these Australians, and DFAT officials in Nepal and also China are seeking to do that.”
Wong said the images coming out of Nepal and Tibet were horrific, and the scale of destruction and loss of life “devastating”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong is addressing media in Adelaide today. Watch through the video player below:
