Nearly 1,400 Missing After Catastrophic Nepal-Tibet Flash Flood Kills At Least 356 — Including British Tourists

A catastrophic flash flood has killed at least 356 people and left nearly 1,400 missing after a glacier collapsed on the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday morning.

The disaster struck without warning in a mountainous region popular with trekkers and pilgrims, sending a massive wall of water and debris thundering down valleys and obliterating entire villages.

Among the missing are 33 British citizens, including a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy.

What Happened

According to the Guardian, the disaster was triggered when the lower part of a glacier near Nepal's Langtang Lirung peak collapsed early Wednesday morning. The impact registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event — so powerful it was initially mistaken for an earthquake.

The US Geological Survey later confirmed "no earthquake had occurred" and that the seismic shock was generated by "glacial rock and ice collapsing and the flow of debris."

Video footage showed a towering wall of water and mud crashing down gorges along the Trishuli River, sweeping away trucks, houses, roads, and power plants. The multi-storey Rasuvagadhi Border checkpoint building was completely engulfed.

The Human Cost

The BBC reports that Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has confirmed 910 people are still missing, including 517 foreign citizens, 44 members of the Nepal Army, and 28 Nepal police officers.

On the Tibet side of the border, China's state broadcaster CCTV said 558 people are missing, including 260 foreign nationals. Three deaths have been confirmed in Tibet.

The missing tourists come from across the globe: 288 from India, nearly 100 from China, 65 from the US, 53 from Ukraine, 51 from Malaysia, 39 from Australia, 33 from the UK, and 24 from Canada, according to official figures compiled by Nepal's tourism board.

Many of the victims were on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists.

British Families Waiting For News

King Charles said he and Queen Camilla were "heartbroken" by the disaster, the BBC reports.

"We feel deeply for the many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations," the King's statement read. "Many in the United Kingdom have strong, deep and personal ties to this part of the world."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the UK has offered £5 million to help the Nepalese government and pledged to do "everything we can" to support British nationals.

Tour companies have confirmed missing British citizens. Alpine Eco Trek said it has lost contact with 12 Britons who were on a tour to Mount Kailash, with a 13-year-old girl the youngest person missing. Four of the company's Nepali tour guides are also unaccounted for.

British woman Leena Bector from Slough has been confirmed missing by Fishtail Tours. Her husband Bhupesh told the Times he is flying to Nepal: "I know that she's in Nepal for sure, so even if they find her today or tomorrow, I need to be there."

Pramod Pudel, a British resident from East Sussex originally from Nepal, told BBC Radio Sussex "nothing remains" where his family lives. He is flying back to search for his wife, mother, brother, and uncle.

Survivors Describe The Horror

From his hospital bed, survivor Bibek Kumal described the moment the flood hit. "I started running. Then a wall of water came thundering down as if it was an earthquake," he told the Guardian.

The torrent swept him downstream amid mud and debris, but he survived by clinging to a mango tree. "Had there been no mango tree, I would have been washed away to death."

Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, lost his wife in the disaster. "It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us," he said. "I tried to grab my wife's hand and take her to the terrace. But she was swept away by the mud. Four or five hours later, a helicopter came to rescue me. My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She's gone."

David Fisher, head of the Nepal delegation of the International Federation of the Red Cross, said entire villages and market areas had been wiped out.

The Rescue Effort

Nepal's army has rescued more than 100 people by helicopter, according to the Guardian. Dozens of injured people have been transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care.

The rescue operation has been complicated by the destruction of dozens of bridges and almost 25 miles of roads in the mountainous region.

Tibet has deployed nearly 800 emergency workers, 150 vehicles, sniffer dogs, and speedboats. China's Premier Li Qiang travelled to the affected area on Thursday to oversee search efforts.

The UN Secretary General António Guterres said UN teams are mobilizing supplies and personnel to support communities affected by the disaster. The US government has pledged $500,000 in emergency assistance.

Climate Crisis Warning

Scientists say climate change is driving faster glacier melt in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and increasing the risk of such disasters.

Simon Cook, senior lecturer in energy environment and security at the University of Dundee, told the BBC that "climate change could have an impact."

"Permafrost is partially holding some mountainsides together, this permafrost is warming and thawing and degrading so you are going to get more landslides," Cook explained.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development has warned that secondary flooding could occur in the coming days as a result of debris blocking river systems. A lake of rising water has formed at one site, prompting fears it could burst its banks.

Authorities and scientists are continuing to evaluate the size, location, and stability of potential blockages that could trigger another catastrophic flood.

Are you or someone you know affected by the Nepal-Tibet floods? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

Sources:

• The Guardian: Nearly 1,400 missing, mostly tourists, after Nepal-Tibet flash flood kills at least 356
• BBC News: What we know about deadly Nepal-Tibet floods
• BBC News: King 'heartbroken' by deadly Nepal flash floods