Thousands remain missing and more than 1,000 people have died following a massive flash flood that devastated a Himalayan valley on Nepal's border with Tibet last Wednesday. The disaster, believed to have been triggered by a glacial collapse, swept through the region, destroying villages and critical infrastructure.
Nearly 12,000 people have been rescued since the flood, according to Nepal's disaster management agency. However, thousands more, including hundreds of foreign nationals from India, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Malaysia, are still unaccounted for. A week after the event, fears are escalating that the death toll will continue to rise.
On the Tibetan side of the border, Chinese state media has not reported any survivors, although search efforts are ongoing. Information from the region is tightly controlled by Beijing, which annexed Tibet in the 1950s, and foreign journalists require permission to travel there.
Rescuers have been working around the clock with heavy machinery to clear debris and reopen the route to the Gyirong border crossing between Nepal and Tibet. Chinese state media reported that this will help accelerate the search for the missing. Experts from China and India are collaborating to construct temporary bridges to access remote areas, and drones are being deployed to scan hard-to-reach locations for survivors.
The United Nations humanitarian agency has identified access as the primary challenge, with more than 40 bridges destroyed by the floodwaters. Remote communities are dependent on helicopter flights for essential supplies, and many are still facing shortages of fuel and electricity.
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