Nearly 100 dead, hundreds missing in Nepal-China flood catastrophe

The death toll from severe flash floods in the mountainous border region between Nepal and China rose to nearly 100 late Wednesday, with hundreds of people still missing and fears that the true number could run into the thousands.

The office of Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah said at least 95 people had died in the country. Hundreds remained unaccounted for, including 391 foreign tourists, 93 Nepalese travellers, 44 Nepal Army personnel and 31 police officers.

A senior official at Nepal Police headquarters in Kathmandu, speaking to dpa on condition of anonymity because of sensitivity of the matter, said the number of missing could be "in the thousands" based on preliminary assessment, though complete data is still being gathered.

"Gathering complete information itself is challenging as many areas remained cut off from communication and roads throughout the day," the officer said.

The floods caused widespread destruction to communities and infrastructure along the Bhotekoshi river, which originates in the highlands of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and flows through Nepal's Bagmati province.

Television footage and videos shared on social media showed homes, hydropower facilities and roads destroyed, bridges swept away and entire villages inundated, with the Rasuwa district hardest hit. Surveillance footage showed a border crossing with China being wiped out by a massive wave of water and mud.

What triggered the catastrophe remains unclear. Authorities have not ruled out a glacial lake outburst, in which a lake fed by melting glaciers suddenly releases a massive volume of water after becoming destabilized, unleashing huge volumes of water downstream.

The floods destroyed at least 19 road bridges and around 40 kilometres of paved roads, according to updated figures from the Nepalese government.

The Nepal Tourism Board said earlier that most of the missing travellers were from neighbouring India, citing preliminary figures from travel and trekking agencies operating tours in the affected region.

The army and other security forces would be deployed in rescue operations.

China reported three deaths and 265 people missing in Gyirong county in south-western Tibet, according to state media, citing an initial assessment by local authorities. The exact number of missing people was still being determined and rescue operations were continuing.

The mud and floodwaters cut roads leading to the border crossing as well as electricity supplies and communications, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China dispatched rescue teams with heavy equipment to the area, raised its disaster alert level and allocated emergency funds to the affected region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to find the missing and move people in affected areas to safety, according to Xinhua. He also called for stronger early-warning systems and sent senior Communist Party official Zhang Guoqing to the region to oversee rescue efforts.