ISLAMABAD: A massive glacier collapse high in the Himalayas along the Nepal-China border has caused catastrophic flash floods and mudslides. The disaster occurred early in the morning on Aug 26, releasing a powerful surge of water, ice, and rock through mountain valleys. The following are updates as of Friday, Aug 28.
Nepal army trying to save people trapped in tunnel
Nepali army helicopter rescue teams were working on Friday to rescue around 100 people trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by a devastating flood two days earlier.
"Our focus is in search and rescue of people... some people are trapped in the tunnel of Trishuli 3A hydropower project," Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.
"Two helicopters have been dispatched, but it is challenging because it is tough even to locate the entry points of the tunnel. Relief efforts are also underway to provide the rescued people with what they need," he added.
The prime minister's office said in a statement that the army had been working in tough conditions.
"A Nepali Army team has successfully rescued 350 workers and locals who were trapped in the tunnel a while ago, facing extremely risky and challenging conditions amid adverse weather and rapid floodwaters," the statement read.
"The army is still working to safely evacuate more than 100 people trapped in the same tunnel."
It did not give further details about the nationalities of those rescued or trapped.
Nepal flood death toll rises to 469: Police
Devastating floods on the Nepal-China border region have killed at least 469 people, Nepali police said Friday, 48 hours after the disaster.
Chinese state media had earlier confirmed three dead, taking the total killed to at least 472. More than 1,400 people are missing, including hundreds of foreigners.
555 stranded tourists evacuated
Rescuers have evacuated 555 stranded tourists from Tibet after the devastating mudslide on the China-Nepal border, Chinese state media reported Friday.
State broadcaster CCTV said that 499 local residents and 555 tourists had been transported out of the disaster zone as of Friday morning. It did not specify the tourists' nationalities.
Fresh flood warnings for disaster-hit Nepal, China
China and Nepal warned of fresh flooding risks, complicating rescuers' search Friday for more than 1,400 people missing after a deadly deluge and landslides swept away entire villages along their remote Himalayan border.
Emergency teams have recovered 392 bodies after a devastating tsunami-like wall of freezing water and mud wiped out towns under a torrent of sludge, burying homes, smashing bridges and dams and sweeping away vehicles.
Many of the missing are foreign tourists, including trekkers in the Himalayan nation and scores of Hindu pilgrims to Tibet's sacred snow-capped Mount Kailash.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the disaster was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.
Climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of glacial lake floods and glacial collapses.
Emergency teams were racing to pluck survivors from affected zones, while Nepali soldiers used sniffer dogs to search for bodies buried under the suffocating dirt.
But their efforts are hampered by fears of new floods as water trapped by the immense piles of debris blocking the valley risks surging out.
Chinese authorities warned that a lake formed by Wednesday's mudslide faces a "high risk of breaching and sending floodwaters downstream," according to state media late Thursday.
Kathmandu's Flood Forecasting Division separately issued a "special notice," warning of a growing lake behind debris left by the landslide and urging extreme caution.