More than 160 Dead & Hundreds Missing After Flash Floods Hit Nepal-Tibet Border

More than 160 bodies had been recovered so far, Nepal police have confirmed after a flash flood hit the Nepal-Tibet border earlier on Wednesday. 

Over 500 tourists are missing in Nepal, including more than 100 from India, 54 from the US, 33 from the UK, and more than 100 from Nepal itself.

In Tibet, at least three people have been killed and 265 are missing, according to Chinese state media.

The entire nation is "shocked and deeply distressed", Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah said. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed that 34 Australian citizens are among the missing. 

Meanwhile New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has said that it is aware of “a small number“ of Kiwis who are in the region.

Nepalese authorities initially believed that an earthquake had caused the flash flooding on the Nepal-Tibet border, but authorities have since confirmed that it was actually triggered by a landslide.

"Additional analysis of long period seismic waves indicate that the seismic energy was instead generated by a landslide" The US Geological Survey said. 

Officials with Nepal's department of meteorology and hydrology have told foreign media that a massive chunk of ice may have collapsed from a mountain, pulling down rocks and other sediments with it.

While climate change is known to be contributing to glacial melt in the region, scientists say it's still too early to know if it played a role in this specific event.

Other factors being considered include whether any glacial lakes suddenly drained or whether the river became blocked - as well as data on recent rainfall conditions.

Approximately eight tonnes of relief materials have been dispatched to areas affected by the flash flooding in the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal's Rasuwa region, Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah's office has said.

Source - BBC | Reuters