Flash floods in the Himalayas – hundreds of tourists missing

 

Tina Magnergård Bjers/TT

 

Published 10.30Updated 14.27

            

           Damaged houses and vehicles after the Trishuli River in Nepal overflowed. Photo: Niranjan                       Shrestha/AP/TT

Nearly 300 foreign tourists are missing in Nepal, which has been hit by dramatic floods and landslides from the Himalayan mountain range.

Many fatalities are feared and the devastation is great in Nepal and Tibet, according to local media.

A total of 384 tourists are missing, of which 291 are foreign, writes The Himalayan Times with reference to Nepal's tourism authority. Around a hundred of the missing are said to be Indians and at least three are Americans, writes ABC News.

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no information about injured Swedes.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in contact with the embassy in New Delhi and the consulate in Nepal. At the time of writing, we have no information about injured or deceased Swedes," the press service writes in an email to TT.

Several dead in Nepal

Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered a full-scale search and rescue operation following reports of mudslides and dead people in the border area of ​​Gyirong in Tibet, writes China's state news agency New China.

Chinese media are reporting "large losses", without specifying these.

On the Nepalese side, the remains of about twenty people have been recovered, writes AFP, citing police information. A major search and rescue operation is also underway there, in which 14 helicopters are participating.

The Kathmandu Post newspaper reports about flooded rivers, a destroyed hydroelectric plant, swept away markets and a 42-kilometer-long road that has been washed away.

“Can’t talk”

The flooding reportedly began in Tibet early Wednesday and quickly caused the Bhotekoshi River in northern Nepal to rise. Dozens of villages along the riverbanks were affected. In Nuwakot, northwest of Kathmandu, people and entire homes were swept away as the water level rose rapidly.

“People can’t even talk,” Yugnath Adhikari, who witnessed two sisters, a nephew and his wife being washed away, told The Kathmandu Post.

Some managed to get to safety, but elderly people and children in particular are reported missing. In Timure, near the border with China, nine police officers are missing.

There are a number of theories about what triggered the floods and landslides, according to media. One is that an ice avalanche blocked a river in the Himalayas, and eventually burst. Another is that a glacial lake overflowed. The incident is also linked to the annual monsoon rains.