Nepal flood death toll surpasses 1,000
Photo: REUTERS
The death toll from Nepal’s devastating floods rose to 1,050 on Tuesday as rescuers deployed heavy machinery, helicopters, and excavators to search for around 4,000 people who remain missing nearly a week after the Himalayan disaster tore through local towns and valleys.
Specialized rescue teams from China, India, and Nepal built temporary bridges to reach isolated, remote areas and dug through the ruins of several hydropower projects to reach trapped workers. The rescue teams used excavators to try to rescue nearly 300 workers who remain trapped inside tunnels.
A catastrophic glacier collapse on 26 August triggered a massive deluge of ice, rock, and mud that swept through Nepal’s impoverished border region with China.
Nepal’s disaster management authority said on Tuesday at least 639 people remain stranded at devastated hydropower stations, which have become the central focus of the ongoing search-and-rescue efforts.
According to a preliminary estimate by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the disaster left behind at least 2.2 million tons of debris, which includes rocks, sediment, and parts of destroyed buildings.
Regarding this massive buildup, UNDP said, “The amount of debris shows the scale of the destruction and the challenge communities face as they clear homes, roads and public spaces and begin to rebuild.”
Prime Minister Balendra Shah announced in a social media post on Monday that rescuers have successfully saved more than 11,000 people, while workers have restored power and communication lines in some of the affected areas.
“We did not have the time to grab anything before fleeing,” said a survivor from the hard-hit Rasuwa district who had walked to Nuwakot alongside scores of other survivors. “What we were wearing is the only pair of clothes we have. And even they are wet from rain.”
In China, emergency rescue teams worked through the night to reopen the blocked transport route to the Nepali border, which sits on a steep mountain gorge flanked by unstable cliffs and fast-flowing river channels.
Chinese foreign ministry announced that Beijing will send DNA testing experts and a second batch of relief supplies, including drones and water purification systems, to the disaster-hit areas.
South Korea also announced that it will deploy a 44-member emergency relief team to support search-and-rescue operations in Rasuwa after confirming that nine of its nationals who were working at a local hydropower project remain missing.
Although Nepal declined foreign participation in general search-and-rescue operations last week, the government clarified that it required specialized services and advanced technological support, such as life-detecting machines, large refrigerators, and pre-fabricated bridges.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah confirmed that aid worth over $42 million has already flowed into the nation, with total contributions expected to rise. Shah also noted that joint teams from Nepal, India, and China have successfully rescued 279 workers from various hydropower projects.
An army source revealed that rescuers are currently contending with collapsed tunnels and rising floodwaters that have severely restricted access to several hydropower sites where officials believe the largest numbers of people are trapped.
Asish Gurung, a mountain guide assisting in the tunnel rescue efforts, described the immense difficulty from Haku village in Rasuwa district, “Our first rescue observation at Trishuli Hydro Power plant shows that it is not humanly possible to go into the tunnel.”
Gurung added, “We need machines like bulldozers and excavators... There may be about 500 people trapped inside.”
Since the turn of the century, Nepal has experienced a massive boom in hydropower projects as the mountainous country sought to utilize its Himalayan water resources to resolve chronic domestic power shortages and increase electricity exports to neighboring India.
However, Prime Minister Balendra Shah warned that this disaster highlights the escalating risks that the Himalayan region faces from a warming planet. Shah added, “The time has come for us to strongly raise before the international community the disasters we are experiencing as a consequence of climate change.”
China’s state broadcaster reported on Monday that the devastating flood was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming.”
Kanni Wignaraja, a UN assistant secretary-general, told Reuters that Nepal, which relies heavily on its glaciers for both national income and vital water supplies, now faces “some very, very hard choices.”
Source: Reuters (adapted)
