Death toll rises in Nepal-China flooding
Catastrophic flash floods in Nepal and China have resulted in nearly 600 deaths and thousands of missing persons. Rescue operations are currently underway, complicated by mudslides and the overflow of a newly formed glacial lake.
Why it matters
This is a major humanitarian disaster with significant loss of life and ongoing risks to regional infrastructure and local populations.
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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety Friday, as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed nearly 600 people and left almost 2,500 missing.
Rescue teams were put on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up on the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods on Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.
Nepal’s army was deployed to help rescue more than 100 people believed trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower plant located in the country’s worst-hit district. Like elsewhere in the disaster zone, their work was complicated by thick layers of mud that covered the site.
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