The total death toll across Nepal and the Tibetan border has surpassed 750, with local disaster agencies continuing to recover bodies from river systems and debris fields after search and rescue operations have resumed in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China’s Tibet following a catastrophic flash flood and mudslide.
As reported by the CGTN over 3,000 people remain unaccounted for overall which includes 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries officially identified as missing on the Tibetan side, alongside hundreds of other foreign tourists, travelers, and hydropower project workers missing on the Nepal side from dozens of nations including India, the US, Malaysia, Australia, and the UK.
Officials from China’s Tibet Autonomous Region said at a press conference that the highest number of missing foreigners was from Nepal at 104, while 49 Indian, 33 Latvian, 18 American and 15 British citizens were also unaccounted for.
They said authorities in Beijing have notified foreign missions.
The nationality breakdown was the first from the Chinese side since the collapse of a glacier on Wednesday unleashed a torrent of ice, rock, mud and debris down Himalayan rivers.
The disaster was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming”, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, saying it is a “new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters” on the Tibetan plateau.
