Rescue efforts underway after flash flood in Nepal kills over 160

KATHMANDU, Nepal (Kyodo) -- Over 1,400 individuals went missing and hundreds perished following a devastating flash flood and mudslide that struck areas along the border between Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, according to local authorities on Thursday. The search and rescue operations are still underway, a day after the disaster, with the combined death toll from both sides of the border surpassing 390.

The missing individuals include foreign tourists from more than 30 nations, such as India, Malaysia, Ukraine, and the United States. A family of five from Japan, including children, among the missing, entered Nepal from the Chinese side, as per Nepali authorities. The Japanese Embassy in Kathmandu has requested local authorities to search for the family, whom they believe were on a tour.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi conveyed her condolences to the victims' families and expressed hope for a swift recovery to those affected by the disaster, sending messages to Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang, and Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Satellite imagery analysis conducted by Hidenori Watanabe, a professor at the University of Tokyo, suggests that a section of a glacier approximately 1 kilometer wide and 2 km long likely broke off and tumbled about 1.2 km to the valley floor.

The Bhotekoshi River in Nepal's mountainous Rasuwa region overflowed, causing damage to houses and infrastructure, including a hydroelectric power station. China's Xinhua News Agency reported that three people were killed and more than 550 others are unaccounted for following a mudslide in Shigatse, a major city in China's autonomous region of Tibet.