The number of people missing after devastating flash floods triggered by a sharp rise in the Bhote Koshi River has climbed to around 1,384 in Nepal’s northern border district of Rasuwa and across the border in China’s Tibet region. Around 800 of those missing are believed to be foreign nationals.

Nepalese and Tibetan government officials provided the information on Thursday. Nepalese officials said 826 of the missing people are from Nepal, while the country’s tourism department confirmed that around 500 of those missing are foreign nationals.

Officials from Nepal’s tourism department said the missing foreigners include 177 Indian nationals, 63 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians, along with citizens from around two dozen other countries.

So far, 165 bodies have been recovered from layers of mud and piles of rocks spread across areas affected by the floods. Rescue officials, however, warned that the death toll is likely to rise.

“The number will increase because we have resumed the search and expect to recover more bodies,” police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told Reuters.

Meanwhile, China’s state-run television channel CCTV reported that 558 people were missing in Tibet following the sudden flooding of the Bhote Koshi River. Of those missing, 260 are foreign nationals. CCTV also reported that three bodies had been recovered from the debris of mud, rocks and waste left behind by the flooding.

All of those reported missing are from Tibet’s Gyirong County, which bore the brunt of the flash flood from the Bhote Koshi River.

Verified videos showed powerful currents and debris sweeping dozens of people away at a border crossing in Gyirong. Downstream, the rushing floodwaters also swept away homes, roads and power infrastructure in Nepal.

Keshav Prasad Baral narrowly survived the flash flood in Nepal but was unable to save his wife. The 68-year-old, who was receiving treatment at a hospital in Nepal, told Reuters, “Suddenly I saw a huge flow of mud rushing straight toward us. The higher it came, the more enormous the flow became. When I saw that it was almost entering my house, I held my wife’s hand and tried to take her to the roof, but she was swept away by the mud.”

Four hours later, a helicopter rescued Keshav from the roof of his house.

“My wife is still somewhere under the mud. I could not save her,” Keshav told Reuters.

Source: Reuters