Nepal flash floods: 30 tourists from Keralam stranded; State govt. coordinating rescue efforts

Nearly one and a half thousand individuals, comprising at least eight hundred foreigners, remain missing in Nepal and China's Tibet following a catastrophic mud and rock avalanche into a Himalayan river, triggering devastating floods through towns and valleys. Rescuers in Nepal deployed helicopters to scour for survivors and distribute emergency provisions to those cut off by Wednesday's disaster, which ravaged a rugged, mountainous region teeming with trekkers and pilgrims en route from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.

Authorities anticipate the death toll surpassing 165, with Abi Narayan Kafle, a police spokesperson, confirming to Reuters that the search has resumed and more bodies are anticipated to be retrieved. Among the 826 missing in Nepal, nearly six hundred are foreigners, with 177 from India, 63 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain, and 25 from Canada.

In Tibet's Gyirong county, the toll stands at 558, including 260 foreign nationals, as verified videos depict massive waves of water and debris sweeping away dozens of people at a border crossing, obliterating homes, roads, and power facilities downstream in Nepal. Keshav Prasad Baral, a 68-year-old survivor hospitalized, recounted the terror as the mud "kept rising higher and higher" before engulfing his home.

He had managed to grab his wife's hand before she was swept away. Another survivor claimed he survived by clinging to a mango tree while witnessing his house vanish. Hundreds are missing in the hardest-hit districts, where helicopters are dropping tents, food, and other emergency supplies provided by neighboring India. Over five thousand army and police rescue personnel have been deployed to locate survivors and retrieve bodies.

Early reports from Nepali officials suggest a possible earthquake in the area may have caused the lower part of a glacier to collapse, triggering the floods, which the US Geological Survey corroborated, describing the seismic energy as originating from the glacial rock and ice collapse followed by debris flow. Chinese authorities have flagged the risk posed by a still-dammed lake upstream, potentially complicating rescue efforts in the mountainous terrain.

The US State Department pledged a disaster response adviser and $500,000 in assistance, while Canada closely monitored the situation, describing the floods as "absolutely devastating." UN teams and partners are dispatching supplies and personnel to aid affected Nepali communities, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasizing the challenge of gathering accurate information in a developing country like Nepal.

The Himalayan tourism sector is deeply impacted, with Sagar Pandey, CEO of a tourism operator, reporting that 15 Indian-Australians on a pilgrimage were missing, with no human settlements left after the disaster. Videos from the Chinese side of the border reveal families fleeing the torrent of rock, mud, and water, destroying buildings and vehicles.

In the affected areas, thick layers of mud have swathed homes, trees, and vehicles. Helicopters carrying survivors hovered overhead throughout the day. Satellite imagery indicates a massive landslide of ice and rock unleashed the flood in the Lhende River, approximately 12 miles northeast of the Nepal-China border crossing.