Nepal has deployed helicopters for rescue operations after a massive flash flood swept through villages in the Himalayan nation, killing at least eight people and damaging roads, bridges and hydropower projects near the border with Tibet.
Across the border, China’s Xinhua news agency reported major casualties and missing people in Tibet’s Gyirong County after a mudslide struck a border crossing between China and Nepal.
In Nepal’s Rasuwa district, floodwaters were too high for helicopters to land in the affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure, with officials warning that casualties and property losses could be significant.
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“There could be heavy casualties or loss of property,” district administrator Narendra Pariyar told Reuters. *“But I cannot say for sure now.”
Pariyar urged residents living along the Bhote Koshi River to move to higher ground, citing reports that villages and infrastructure project sites had been swept away.
“It all came suddenly,” a witness told the Onlinekhabar portal. *“We heard a loud sound, like a volcano erupting. People started to scream and ran away.”
Nepal’s army said rescue helicopters would not be able to land until the floodwaters receded.
The cause of the flooding remained unclear, although a deadly flash flood on the same river last year was linked to the draining of a glacier lake.
Xinhua reported that the mudslide also affected China’s Gyirong port, disrupting roads, communications and electricity supplies in the Shigatse region near the Nepal border.
Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered all-out search efforts for missing people and called for stronger monitoring and early-warning systems to prevent further disasters.
Nepal’s Energy Ministry said about 430 megawatts of electricity supply had been affected, mainly from hydropower projects.
The affected capacity represents more than 12 per cent of Nepal’s total 3.2-gigawatt hydropower capacity, according to estimates based on official figures.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah said police and military personnel were assisting rescue and relief operations.
“Instructions have been given … to move the people living in the lower areas to safer places,” he said. *“People along the river are advised to exercise extra caution and remain alert.”
The Bhote Koshi River originates in Tibet and flows into Nepal’s Trishuli River, which eventually enters India as the Gandak River.
Last year, flooding on the Bhote Koshi killed nine people and left 24 missing, while destroying a bridge linking Nepal and China and disrupting trade and transport for months.
A regional climate monitor later attributed that disaster to the draining of a supraglacial lake in Tibet.
Reuters
