Nepal floods kill 359, leave over 900 missing as death toll more than doubles

Over 510 foreigners from 30-plus countries among missing; US says 90 Americans unaccounted for

80 bridges, 40 km of roads destroyed; glacial collapse and debris flow suspected cause

South Korea rapid-response team arrives in Kathmandu; 3 dead, 558 missing in Tibet

Rescue operations are underway in Nuwakot, Nepal, following a massive flash flood on Thursday (local time). [Xinhua]

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Nepal's Himalayan mountain region bordering China jumped to 359 on Thursday (local time), the second day after the disaster struck, with the number of missing surpassing 900.

Nepali police said the floods, which hit Bagmati Province in the country's north, had killed 359 people and injured 73 as of Thursday afternoon, according to local outlet Online Khabar, AFP and the BBC.

As search operations continued and bodies were recovered across Bagmati Province, the death toll more than doubled in a single day, rising from 157 the previous day to 359.

The bodies of 100 Indian tourists and 25 Chinese workers were also found near the Trishuli River in Bagmati Province that day.

Abi Narayan Kaple, a Nepali police spokesperson, said: "We resumed the search today and expect to recover more bodies going forward. The death toll will continue to rise."

He added that 445 people had been rescued in recent hours, including 27 foreigners.

The number of missing also jumped sharply, from 484 on Thursday to 910 by Friday, as additional reports came in.

Of the total missing, 517 are foreigners and more than 200 are Nepali nationals. The missing foreigners are from more than 30 countries, including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Italy and Ukraine.

A landslide linked to the same disaster also struck Gyirong County in Shigatse, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region near the Nepal border, killing 3 people and leaving 558 missing, including 260 foreigners.

Combined, the floods in Nepal and Tibet have left more than 1,400 people unaccounted for.

India's Ministry of External Affairs said Thursday that 288 Indian nationals were missing in Nepal and another 200 were stranded in Tibet.

The US government said 90 Americans were missing as a result of the Nepal floods.

China said around 100 of its nationals were missing in Nepal, though EFE reported they had not yet been included in the official Nepali government count.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said nearly 100 Chinese nationals were missing in the affected areas on the Nepali side, adding that the Chinese Embassy in Nepal was working with Nepali authorities to verify the figures.

Buildings and bridges swept away by floods and landslides along the Trishuli River in Nepal on Thursday (local time). [Reuters]

Nine South Koreans working for Korea South-East Power (KOEN) and Doosan Enerbility on a hydropower plant construction project in the area have also lost contact.

Of 10 other South Koreans affiliated with Doosan Enerbility who were reported stranded, nine were moved to safety on Thursday. The remaining one — the site manager — stayed behind, along with two South Korean Embassy staff members, including a consul and an administrative officer.

A joint rapid-response team composed of officials from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency departed from Incheon International Airport and arrived in Kathmandu on Friday.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 80 bridges and 40 kilometers of roads had been damaged, and that 85 people — including 28 police officers and 57 soldiers — were missing.

The authority added that more than 17,200 people were involved in rescue operations and that around 1,470 had been rescued so far.

The Nepal Red Cross said some villages had been completely devastated, with communities cut off entirely after roads and bridges were destroyed.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, president of the Nepal Red Cross, said around 1,200 people had been evacuated from at least three villages, and that operations in the affected areas had shifted from rescue to large-scale relief.

The floods are believed to have been triggered by the collapse of massive glaciers and rock formations in the Himalayas, a process accelerated by climate change.

The US Geological Survey initially reported a magnitude-4.4 earthquake in the Tibet region but later issued a revised report saying no earthquake had occurred.

The agency said the seismic-like shock was generated by the collapse of large glaciers and rock masses, and that the resulting debris flow and glacial material swept downstream, causing the catastrophic flooding.

When a natural dam of ice and rock holding back a lake suddenly gives way, it can trigger a flash flood — a phenomenon known as a glacial lake outburst flood, in which vast amounts of meltwater are released in an instant.

Experts warned that such floods are expected to become more frequent as climate change and global warming continue to accelerate glacial melting.

mokiya@heraldcorp.com