Swede on site in Nepal: "Still in a state of panic"

 

Mikael Forsell/TT

 

Published 10.39Updated 11.35

          

         Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of houses have been destroyed in Tibet and Nepal in connection with           the enormous mudslide. Photo: Niranjan Shrestha /AP/TT 

Nepal is shocked after the tsunami disaster.

At the same time, concerns are growing about another major flood, says Swede Björn Söderberg in the capital Kathmandu.

- It is still a state of panic, he says.

Over 600 have been confirmed dead and almost 3,000 people are missing after Wednesday's dramatic flood disaster in Nepal and Tibet.

- People are still in a state of shock. The tragic thing now is that even though the rescue work continues, fewer and fewer are being found, says Björn Söderberg, a social entrepreneur who has lived in the country for 25 years.

– Everyone here has someone they know who is missing. People are becoming increasingly desperate.

“The big fear”

At the same time, there is great fear that a similar flood could soon occur, from a new lake formed by water from the collapsed glacier that is suspected of having caused Wednesday’s disaster.

– That is the big fear. People are scared. They see that this could happen again. The glacier is melting. They know very well that it is melting and many are now sitting and wondering if this could happen in their valley.

Kathmandu is about 130 kilometers from the disaster area and the entire city is affected.

– This is the topic of conversation. No one can go to work and think clearly. Everyone is emotionally affected. There are so many cases where someone has been in the area and met survivors and you see that only one person in the family is left, says Söderberg, adding that there are “infinitely many” such cases.

A lot of help quickly

Björn Söderberg runs a company that builds sustainable and more earthquake-resistant houses and that collaborates with aid organizations in the affected area.

– A lot of help will be needed quickly now, because there are tens of thousands of people who have nowhere to live, no food and nothing to drink.

Many houses in the poor country have not yet been rebuilt after previous natural disasters, says Björn Söderberg. Nepal has been hit by several major earthquakes since 2015 and as recently as 2024 there was a major flood after a monsoon rain.

– No one even remembers it anymore. Right now we have our eyes on this, but it is quickly disappearing in the noise of everything else. But unfortunately this is a pattern and not an isolated incident. That is what worries me the most.