Hundreds killed in Nepal flood as fears grow of secondary disaster

• Hundreds missing: More than 1,300 people are missing — including at least 700 foreigners — after catastrophic flash flooding hit China and Nepal on Wednesday. The death toll in Nepal has climbed to more than 350 people as search and rescue operations are hampered by a lack of connectivity, power and resources.

• Secondary threat: Landslides have created a new lake, increasing the risk of landslides, mudslides and flash floods, with three days of rain ahead and collapsed earth forming unstable dams, China’s state media said.

• Crushing floodwaters: Dramatic footage shows a torrent of water hitting the mountainous region, submerging villages and wiping out bridges. The US Geological Survey said a glacial collapse — when a large section of ice breaks off a glacier and falls down a slope — was behind the disaster. 

Dozens of foreign nationals have been rescued amid intensifying efforts to find more flood survivors in Nepal and China.

https://youtu.be/Wb5AjlCU9zk?si=0j5-74sU8YAai7bh

The Nepal Tourism Board said 31 tourists had been rescued in the flood-stricken district of Rasuwa, including two US nationals, 11 Indian nationals, four South Koreans, two Italians, two Russians, one Bulgarian and one Swiss national.

“All efforts are underway to rescue/evacuate the injured and stranded people,” it said in a statement on X.

Italian authorities have been able to contact 130 nationals who were previously unaccounted for, Italy’s foreign ministry said.

At least 700 foreign nationals visiting the mountainous region are among the more than 1,300 people missing following the devastating flash floods that hit Nepal and China on Wednesday.