Nepal government calls for specialised assistance from neighbouring countries to aid rescue efforts
The Nepalese government has requested “specific and specialised assistance” from neighbouring countries to aid search and rescue efforts.
This includes assistance with opening tunnels where people are trapped, technologies that can help locate people alive in affected areas, rapid forensic and DNA analysis, and mortuary facilities for the proper storage of bodies, Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
It added: “An 11-member specialised technical reconnaissance team for tunnel rescue from India has been mobilised and a tunnel rescue team from China is expected to arrive very soon.”
Key events
We have photos coming in from Nepal of survivors of the deadly flood salvaging their belongings
Survivors of the deadly flood in Nepal reflect on their experiences after a glacier collapse on Wednesday unleashed a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan mountain river systems.
Nepal’s foreign minister warned on Saturday of the growing threat from climate change in the Himalayas, as China offered water and satellite data after devastating floods on their shared border killed hundreds.
Foreign minister Shisir Khanal said he had spoken by phone with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, agreeing to increase the sharing of “real-time hydrological data”, according to a statement.
Wang, in a Chinese foreign ministry statement, said Beijing had “shared crucial information with Nepal, including disaster area imagery, satellite and hydrological data, as well as early warnings about upstream barrier lakes”.
Wang added “China and Nepal are bound by mountains and rivers, sharing a common destiny”.
Khanal earlier told reporters that Nepal needed greater research to “understand the changing dynamics of the Himalayan ecosystem” and the risks they pose to the landlocked country, encircled by India and China.
That includes not only risks “to Nepal and the downstream community, but also to our northern neighbour, to China, as well,” Khanal said.
Donna Ferguson
The number of people killed in the floods in Nepal has risen to at least 675, the country’s disaster authority has said.
Seven have also been confirmed dead in Tibet by Chinese state media, taking the total killed when a glacial collapse unleashed a deadly torrent through river systems in the Himalayan mountains to 682.
Seven bodies have also been recovered in India from rivers flowing from Nepal and are believed to be flood victims. The number of people missing in Nepal and Tibet was revised up to nearly 3,000 on Saturday.
The missing list includes 517 foreigners and 933 workers on hydropower projects on the river where the torrent smashed down, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said.
A number of rescue workers are also missing, including 45 Nepali army soldiers and 40 police officers.
When a Chinese rescue team reached the all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex for the first time on Friday, they found “nothing but ruins”.
Surveillance camera footage from the complex showed huge torrents of water and debris on Wednesday engulfing buildings and people trying to flee. Only on Friday were rescuers able to reach the area.
Chinese rescuers were progressing on Saturday towards the epicentre of a deadly mudslide at the Tibet-Nepal border that has left hundreds missing, as a lake that had threatened more damage has drained, state media said.
The massive wave of mud and debris swept into Tibet’s border hub of Gyirong on Wednesday, killing at least seven people and leaving 554 missing in that area, according to figures published early Saturday by China’s Xinhua news agency.
More than 500 rescuers had reached the heart of the devastation by Saturday, the agency reported.
Rescue operations had been temporarily paused because of the threat of renewed flooding from a lake formed by the mudslide. But state broadcaster CCTV said that the lake was “discharging naturally” and had been “essentially drained”, citing China’s ministry of water resources.
Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, has refuted media reports that his country has turned down international support, saying they were “entirely false”, according to local media.
Speaking during a news conference, he emphasised that continued support is crucial for immediate relief, and will be especially important for post-flood reconstruction efforts, the official national broadcaster Radio Nepal reported.
Nepal government calls for specialised assistance from neighbouring countries to aid rescue efforts
The Nepalese government has requested “specific and specialised assistance” from neighbouring countries to aid search and rescue efforts.
This includes assistance with opening tunnels where people are trapped, technologies that can help locate people alive in affected areas, rapid forensic and DNA analysis, and mortuary facilities for the proper storage of bodies, Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
It added: “An 11-member specialised technical reconnaissance team for tunnel rescue from India has been mobilised and a tunnel rescue team from China is expected to arrive very soon.”
Death toll in Nepal rises to 669
The Nepali disaster agency has given an update on the number of those killed in Nepal, which has risen to 669, the Associated Press reports. With the seven people confirmed as having lost their lives in Tibet – where information is under the strict control of Chinese authorities – that brings the death toll for the disaster to 676. The number of people missing was revised up to nearly 3,000 on Saturday: 2,426 in Nepal and 554 in Tibet.
AP has reported some comments from Nepali army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet about the rescue efforts at the Trishuli-1 hydropower tunnel in the Rasuwa district (see post at 9:27). Authorities believe more than 100 people are trapped in the tunnel filled with thick mud.
Basnet said rescuers had used baskets and ropes to reach some people, but the operation remained difficult because of about 1.2 to 1.5 metres (4-5ft) of mud and the limited number of places where helicopters could land.
He said rescue teams had also been forced to relocate temporarily when authorities issued warnings about possible further flooding.
This extraordinary composite satellite image captured by Planet Labs shows the glacier on Mount Langtang Lirung in Nepal before and after its collapse on Wednesday, with the left image taken on Tuesday 25 August and the right on Friday 28 August:
The Britons believed to be among the thousands missing in Nepal
PA has put together a list of some of the Britons believed to be missing in Nepal, including a 13-year-old girl, NHS workers and a priest:
Hema Amin, from Croydon, south London, who started a pilgrimage to Gosainkunda lake on Monday that was supposed to last until 4 September. The 63-year-old’s husband, Sunil Amin, told Sky News: “I keep trying to call her. I’ve been trying, trying, trying.”
Hemangini Patel, 65, who had been with Amin on an Alpine Eco Trek tour when the flooding hit, her daughter told the BBC. She said her mother’s last known location is from a video from TikTok which was shared as she crossed into Tibet.
Bipin, 66, and Mala Patel, 60, from Coventry, went missing after travelling to Nepal and Tibet on a pilgrimage to the sacred Hindu site of Mount Kailash. Their son, Deepesh Patel, told PA the family last heard from the couple on Tuesday and their last known location was in the Gyirong area of the Nepal-Tibet border.
Spandan Sahu, 18, his father, Santosh Sahu, 46, his mother, Surabhi Manmath Padhy, 44, and sister Syna Kumari Sahu, 13, from the Surrey village of Cobham, are thought to be among the missing. A neighbour described them as a “lovely family”.
Nabhi Nandan Das, a Hindu priest from south London, was leading a group on a tour to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar. The Telegraph reported that the 64-year-old priest, who lives in Streatham and works at the Sanatan Mandir and Community Centre in Coulsdon, Surrey, was leading 11 Britons, including the missing 13-year-old girl, on the tour.
Pavan and Kavita Haldia were sightseeing in Kathmandu before setting out on a pilgrimage with the Sanatan Mandir group, their 22-year-old son Prajval told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He said he last spoke to them on Tuesday on the phone and had a message from his parents on Wednesday morning, around an hour before the flood is believed to have hit.
Leena Bector, 53, a director of a care agency from Slough, west London, is among 27 travellers associated with the Fishtail Tours and Travels group currently unaccounted for. Her husband, Bhupesh Bector, told The Times: “I know that she’s in Nepal for sure … so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there.”
Sarada Simkhada, a senior nurse at Darent Valley hospital in Kent, was in Nepal making a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. Her brother Shambhu wrote on social media: “My dear sister, wherever you are, please stay strong. We are praying for your safety every moment and waiting desperately for you to return home.”
Pravin Atmakur, a 54-year-old NHS psychiatry consultant, was leading a pilgrimage of 77 people to Mount Kailash when the flood hit, according to the Telegraph. His wife, Manjula, has travelled to Kathmandu from the UK to search for her husband, the newspaper said.
Sumitra Sapkota is believed to missing, her husband, Pramod Poudel, 24, said. He flew to Nepal on Thursday to search for her as well as his mother, uncle and brother. Poudel, who runs a Nepalese street food company in Sussex, told The Telegraph: “I haven’t heard from them because there’s no power or anything. I am very sad.”
Neetu Goyal Tiwari, 51, had been travelling with a group from the spiritual organisation Isha Foundation and was expected to travel to India on Thursday and meet her brother and parents. Her brother, Naresh Goyal, told the BBC his sister has not been seen since Wednesday and that completing the pilgrimage was “her dream”.
Geetha Reddy’s husband, Vikram Kolagatla, from London, told the BBC he has not heard from his wife since the flooding hit. She has two daughters aged 12 and 14. “The kids still don’t believe it,” Kolagatla said. “They think she’s stuck in the flood and that she’ll come back.”
Authorities in Nepal have said 33 UK citizens are among the thousands missing after Wednesday’s devastating flash flood.
A Chinese rescue team has reached the all-but-obliterated Gyirong border crossing complex for the first time and found “nothing but ruins” as Nepal and China continue their arduous rescue operations in the flood-hit Himalayas.
Surveillance camera footage from the worst-hit Gyirong border crossing complex showed huge torrents of water and debris on Wednesday engulfing buildings and people trying to flee. Only on Friday were rescuers able to reach the area.
State media reported that the Chinese team of 21 rescuers and a search-and-rescue dog crossed mountains and valleys and used ropes to navigate forests and cliffs after roads to the complex, hemmed in by steep Himalayan slopes, were destroyed.
Zou Mingqi, a rescue worker, said: “There was no road … it was all virgin forest and sheer cliffs.” At the complex, “as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins”.
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