Nepal flash flood: Disaster in a geological battleground zone

An Israeli tourist is among the hundreds still missing after a catastrophic flood in Nepal, with the death toll nearing 300, according to tourism officials. At least 65 US citizens are also missing in the disaster, which saw a wall of mud and rock collapse into a Himalayan river. The Nepal tourism board has reported that around 570 tourists, from 33 countries, are currently missing in Tibet's Gyirong county.

ZAKA, an organization investigating the disappearance, has confirmed the case of one Israeli national who has not been heard from since the incident. Israel's Foreign Ministry has warned citizens against traveling to the region due to the ongoing natural disaster. The total number of foreigners missing in the disaster is 517 from 33 countries, with 260 of them from Tibet's Gyirong county, as stated by state broadcaster CCTV, though nationality details were not immediately available.

India had the highest number of missing individuals, with 288 reported missing, according to the Indian foreign ministry. However, later reports indicated that 288 Indian nationals are missing in Nepal, along with an additional 200 stranded in China. The 288 missing included both tourists and Indians working in Nepal, according to the Indian foreign ministry.

Nepal's police have found 270 bodies after the flood, with nearly 1,500 people still unaccounted for in both Nepal and China's Tibet. The disaster has been linked to climate change, which experts say creates conditions that can destabilize high-mountain rock and ice, increasing the risk of such disasters. Simon Cox, chief scientist at the Mountains to Sea program at Earth Sciences New Zealand, explained that this can lead to collapses and cascading hazards like the one witnessed in the Himalayan flood.

Although the exact cause of the disaster is still under analysis, it is believed to have started with a massive ice-rock avalanche on the northern slopes of Nepal's Langtang Lirung peak, which then flowed into the Lhende Khola river on the Tibetan side. The event damaged at least six major hydropower plants and infrastructure at the Gyirong Port trade hub and altered river channels over 100 km (62 miles) downstream, near the Indian border.