At Least 160 Dead After Flash Flood Hits Nepal and Tibet

At least 160 people have died and hundreds remain missing after a devastating flash flood swept through mountainous areas of Nepal and neighbouring Tibet, destroying villages, roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects.

Nepali police said late on Wednesday that 157 bodies had been recovered as emergency teams continued efforts to evacuate people from areas at risk of further flooding.

Authorities said 384 tourists were reported missing, including 291 foreign nationals from countries including the United Kingdom, United States, India and Malaysia. Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said 28 police officers were also missing.

Across the border in Tibet, Chinese authorities reported at least three deaths and 265 people missing in Gyirong county. State broadcaster CCTV said casualty figures were still being verified.

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah called for national unity and assured those affected that the government would take responsibility for rescue operations, medical treatment, food and shelter.

"The government takes full responsibility for your rescue, treatment, food and shelter," Shah said in a statement. "In times of such a disaster, we all need to stand together."

Rescue efforts hampered

Emergency operations in Nepal were complicated by dangerously high water levels, which prevented helicopters from landing in the affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in Rasuwa district.

District administrator Narendra Pariyar urged residents living near the Bhote Koshi River to move to higher ground after reports that villages and infrastructure project sites had been swept away.

Nepal has asked India and China to assist with the rescue operation, government spokesman Sasmit Pokharel said.

In Tibet, a mudslide struck the Gyirong border crossing between China and Nepal, causing what Chinese authorities described as "major casualties". The landslide severed roads, communications and electricity supplies across parts of the Shigatse region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out search for missing people and called for stronger monitoring and early-warning systems to reduce the risk of further disasters.

Climate justice activist Prayash Adhikari said the flooding had devastated entire communities, destroying homes, schools, bridges and highways.

Videos circulated on social media showed powerful torrents of muddy water surging through narrow mountain valleys.

Kosh Raj Koirala, an editor with Nepal's Republica Daily, said many residents had little warning because there had been no particularly heavy rainfall before the flooding.

"Several houses have been washed away, swept away by the river," he said.

Shah convened an emergency meeting of Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, while medical teams, scouts and the Red Cross were mobilised to support the response.

The Nepal Army deployed helicopters and disaster-response personnel, while authorities began assessing the scale of the damage.

Power infrastructure damaged

The Nepal Electricity Authority said the disaster had damaged around 430 megawatts of electricity-generation capacity, including hydropower and solar facilities.

Production, transmission and distribution infrastructure was also damaged, causing widespread disruption to electricity supplies.

Eight South Korean workers involved in a hydropower project were reported missing, while another 10 were stranded, according to South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The workers were employed by Korea Energy and Doosan Enerbility. Nepal has deployed rescue teams to search for them, while South Korea has established a task force led by its foreign minister.

Seoul also plans to send a rapid-response team involving government officials, firefighters and police to assist with the rescue operation.

Avalanche suspected of triggering flood

The precise cause of the flash flood remained unclear, but climate experts at Nepal's International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said an avalanche from a glacier was likely responsible.

The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi, experienced its highest flooding on Wednesday.

Disaster risk specialist Saswata Sanyal said the river had flooded twice in 14 months, with the latest disaster apparently triggered by an ice-and-rock avalanche that blocked the river before releasing a sudden surge downstream.

Adhikari said stronger early-warning systems were essential to protect vulnerable communities from increasingly severe disasters.

The Bhote Koshi originates in Tibet before flowing into Nepal's Trishuli River, which eventually enters India as the Gandak River.

The region has experienced deadly flooding before. A disaster in the Bhote Koshi River last year killed nine people, left 24 missing and destroyed the Friendship Bridge linking Nepal and China, disrupting trade and transportation for months.

That flood was attributed to the sudden drainage of a lake located above a glacier in Tibet.

Monsoon rains between June and September regularly cause deadly floods and landslides across South Asia, while climate experts warn that vulnerable mountain communities face increasing risks from extreme weather and rapidly changing conditions.