Thousands missing in flash floods
Rescue workers in Nepal transport a rescued person in an excavator. Photo: Niranjan Shrestha/ AP/ TT
Huge amounts of earth and water plowed through the valleys of the Himalayas – and scores of people ran for their lives.
At least a thousand are missing as a search operation has been launched among mud and rubble.
In Nepal, authorities say 823 people are missing, as they have not been able to make contact with them. Across the border, in Tibet, Chinese authorities report that more than 550 people are missing.
Barely a day after the natural disaster, only a few people have been found alive in a landscape that has been devastated and covered in brown masses. So far, authorities in the countries involved have reported more than 160 deaths.
Search in full swing
Video clips show how people in different parts of the area start running as the ground shakes and a thundering torrent bursts towards them in the settlement. Large buildings collapse, roads are completely washed away and buses are thrown around like toy cars.On Thursday, rescue workers and other civilians are in the mud to search for survivors. Subash Khatani has gone there to look for his brother.
– He is one of the missing from Rasuwa (one of the worst-hit areas). That is why we are out looking for him, he tells AFP.
Many of the missing people have been in the mountainous region as tourists. Among them are about a hundred Indians who have been on a pilgrimage, but also dozens of people from Europe and the United States, among others.
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no information on injured or missing Swedes on Wednesday evening.
Started with an avalanche
It was followed by a gray-brown flood of water and mud that flowed down the valleys at high speed. This caused the Lhende Khola river to rise by up to nine meters within half an hour.
There have been warnings that there could be another flood as there are still dams higher up in the mountains.
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