The death toll from a devastating flash flood in the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China has risen to more than 600 in Nepal, with at least 616 bodies recovered so far, police said on Saturday.
More than a third of the bodies were found dozens of kilometres from the disaster zone in Chitwan district, in the south of the country near the border with India.
In China, the death toll rose by two to seven, while the number of people missing fell to 554 from 558, state news agency Xinhua reported. The combined death toll in Nepal and China now stands at 623.
According to authorities on both sides, more than 2,500 people are still missing, with Nepal reporting significantly more, at 1,924, including 517 foreign nationals.
Nepal’s military has stepped up search and rescue operations, but faced major challenges including thick layers of mud and people trapped in mountain tunnels. The mud was making it difficult for helicopters to land and take off in affected areas including Temure, Syabrubesi and Mailung, army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said on Friday in Battar Bazar in Bagmati province.
Fourteen rescue helicopters were currently operating in the region and rescue efforts had been intensified, Basnet said. Nepal’s disaster management authority said more than 4,400 people had been rescued by Friday evening.
According to official figures released on Saturday morning, 149 foreign nationals have been rescued so far.
People remain trapped in mountain tunnels
Tunnels in the mountainous region were an obstacle, Basnet said, with people being trapped inside. Only four people had been rescued from the tunnels by Friday morning, he said, adding that many more were thought to remain inside.
Video footage showed rescuers pulling two mud-covered workers alive from a tunnel at a hydropower plant. The men were carried on rescue workers’ backs to a helicopter.
The rescue efforts are also likely to be hampered by heavy rain in Nepal, a dpa reporter said on Saturday. Parts of Asia are still in the monsoon season, which normally lasts until September. Chinese meteorologists had also forecast rain for the weekend.
China’s state television showed search teams working through rubble and mud in south-western Tibet on Saturday morning.
Experts have said a glacier collapse in Nepal may have triggered the disaster on Wednesday, sending huge volumes of water down a river valley and destroying the Gyirong border crossing between Nepal and China. The crossing is on a major route for trade and tourism between the two countries.
Chinese rescue teams remain concerned about a lake that formed above Gyirong after the floods. A breach of the dam of mud and debris could send another surge of water down the valley.
But Chen Hanxiao, head of a team monitoring the site, said the danger had eased significantly because water was already flowing naturally out of the lake, according to Chinese state television.