KATHMANDU/BEIJING (REUTERS) — A huge wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border of Nepal and China’s Tibet on Wednesday, triggering catastrophic flooding on the Nepali side that killed at least 95 people and left hundreds of tourists missing.
In a still-unfolding disaster, verified videos showed dozens of people swept away at the border, with authorities on both sides fearing far higher casualties and massive destruction.
Houses, roads and power projects were swept away in Nepal, while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties”, with some people missing in the county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a border land crossing.
Initial reports suggested an earthquake in the area could have triggered an avalanche and caused the floods, Nepal’s foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, told the country’s parliament on Wednesday, local media reported.
Security footage captured on the Chinese side of the Nepal-Tibet border showed many people fleeing before a torrent of rock, mud and water destroyed buildings, vehicles and took many lives.
With the deluge of muddy water sweeping down from an estimated nearly 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) above sea level, flood alerts were issued in the populous northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which border Nepal and where several rivers flow down the mountains into the plains.
Authorities in Bihar said they had evacuated about 5,000 people from six districts and planned to evacuate a total of 10,000 to 12,000 people.
At least 341 foreign travellers were missing from the region, including more than 100 Indians, three U.S. citizens and 12 British nationals, Nepal’s tourism ministry said. Dozens of local people were also missing.
