At least 584 people have died after the Nepal-Tibet flash floods, while nearly 2,000 remain missing in Nepal and hundreds more are unaccounted for in Tibet, according to the latest official figures.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 579 people had died in the country and 1,924 remained missing. Chinese state media have reported five deaths and 558 missing in Tibet.
The missing in Nepal include 517 foreign nationals. Around 4,000 people have been rescued and 15,000 security personnel have been deployed, according to Nepalese authorities.
A Finnish woman remains among those missing. Helsingin Sanomat exclusively reported, citing her spouse, that she works as a postdoctoral researcher at a Finnish university and has lived in Finland for about 10 years.
Finland’s ambassador to Nepal, Petri Puhakka, told HS that the last official sighting of the woman was at the Gyirong border crossing shortly before the flood wave struck the site.
She was travelling with a pilgrimage group organised by the Isha Foundation after a visit to Mount Kailash. The foundation told HS that one Finnish citizen was among a group of about 80 people who remain missing.
The flood began after part of a glacier collapsed near Mount Langtang Lirung on Wednesday, sending ice, rock, mud and water into river systems flowing towards Nepal.
Rescue work was halted for several hours on Friday after a barrier lake created by landslide debris began overflowing. Operations later resumed after authorities judged the immediate risk to be manageable, Reuters reported.
Chinese officials said the rescue had entered a “critical stage”, while Nepalese and Chinese authorities continued to monitor the lake and other hazards.
Nepalese meteorological officials are also examining two nearby glaciers after images appeared to show cracks, the BBC reported. Officials said the cracks do not necessarily indicate an imminent collapse, though both glaciers feed into the same river system affected by Wednesday’s disaster.
Access remains difficult in several areas where roads and bridges have been destroyed. Helicopters are being used to reach settlements cut off by mud and flood damage.
More than 90,000 people are estimated to have been affected, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Finnish Red Cross announced €500,000 from its disaster relief fund for the IFRC operation in Nepal. The money will support emergency shelter, healthcare, clean water, sanitation, cash assistance and efforts to reunite separated families.
Marko Korhonen, head of international disaster relief at the Finnish Red Cross, said restoring links to isolated communities was essential for delivering aid and helping families obtain information about missing relatives.
HT
