[AFP]
[AFP]

Shocking CCTV footage has emerged showing a massive flash flood engulfing a border village in Nepal within seconds, as the death toll from the disaster continues to rise.

A large-scale flood struck the Rasuwa district of Bagmati Province in north-central Nepal on Wednesday morning, according to local media and international news agencies. The affected area lies along the border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the Himalayan mountain range.

The CCTV footage shows people near a border checkpoint scrambling to flee before a torrent of water and debris surged down from the hillside above, blanketing the screen in dark, muddy water within moments.

The village was swept away in a matter of seconds. Other footage from the scene showed floodwaters swallowing buildings and roads, and some international media reported that the flood destroyed villages and infrastructure along the border area almost instantaneously.

The exact cause of the flood is still under investigation, according to Reuters and other outlets. Some local experts have pointed to the possibility that an earthquake triggered the collapse of glaciers and rock formations, setting off the deluge. However, glacial lake outburst floods and landslide-induced flooding have occurred repeatedly in the Nepal-Tibet border highlands, and determining the precise cause will take time.

The casualty figures remain in flux. Local Nepali authorities said at least 31 people had been killed as of Wednesday afternoon, but difficult access to the area and poor communications have made it hard to assess the full scale of the damage. Nepal's tourism authority said 384 travelers are missing — 291 foreigners and 93 Nepali nationals.

Rasuwa, the hardest-hit district, was also struck by a major flash flood last year. That disaster was attributed to a glacial lake above the Tibetan plateau overflowing due to high temperatures, killing nine people and leaving 24 missing.

South Korean casualties have also been confirmed. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun convened an emergency meeting of the Overseas Koreans Protection Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Seoul on Wednesday night and announced that the number of South Korean nationals missing in the flood had risen to nine. The missing are employees of Korea South-East Power (KOEN) and Doosan Enerbility who were working on a hydroelectric power plant construction project in Rasuwa.

Ten other South Koreans affiliated with Doosan Enerbility who had been stranded in the area were confirmed safe. Cho said they had evacuated alongside some 200 foreign workers, including Nepali nationals, and are awaiting rescue in a secure location together with a South Korean consul dispatched to the scene.

The government established an Overseas Koreans Protection Task Force headed by Cho and has begun coordinating its response. A joint rapid-response team comprising officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Fire Agency and the Korean National Police Agency is also set to be deployed to the site to support search and rescue operations.

President Lee Jae Myung, after being briefed on the situation, ordered officials to "make every effort to search for and rescue our nationals." He also directed them to "cooperate closely with the Nepali government and local authorities, do everything possible to support the families of the missing and ensure the safety of our nationals still on the ground, and spare no effort to prevent further casualties," Cheong Wa Dae Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.

Flash floods in the Himalayan highlands can cause devastation almost instantly, as the torrents move at extreme speed and carry massive loads of soil and rock. The border mountain region's weak road and communications infrastructure is expected to slow rescue teams' access and hamper efforts to account for the missing, making swift coordination between local authorities and the South Korean government critical.


rainbow@heraldcorp.com