Nepal has resumed search and rescue operations after bad weather briefly halted efforts to locate nearly 3,000 people missing following a devastating flood near the Tibet border.
Authorities say at least 669 people have died in Nepal and seven in China’s Tibet after a torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris swept through mountain river systems on Wednesday, destroying buildings, bridges and power infrastructure.
About 2,426 people remain missing in Nepal and 554 in Tibet’s Gyirong County, including at least 540 foreign nationals, many of them Hindu pilgrims from India.
“Helicopters are flying and the operation resumed following some improvement in weather,” a police officer in Rasuwa district said.
Chinese authorities and state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday that the immediate risk had eased, with parts of the lake bed becoming visible and satellite images showing the water slowly draining.
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Rescue operations had been suspended after an overflowing lake raised fears of further flooding, but Chinese authorities said the risk had eased as water levels fell.
Nepal has appealed for specialist foreign assistance and estimates reconstruction could cost between $4 billion and $5 billion.
