The death toll from the flash flood that devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet has climbed past 470, with rescue operations ongoing on both sides of the Himalayan frontier.
The Prime Minister’s Office in Nepal confirmed on Friday that 469 deaths have been recorded, while 977 people remain missing. In Tibet, at least three fatalities have been reported and 558 individuals are still unaccounted for, according to Chinese officials.
Nepalese authorities indicated that 644 of the missing are foreign nationals. Approximately 1,550 survivors have been rescued so far.
The catastrophe struck on Wednesday when a collapsing glacier unleashed a torrent of ice, water, rock and mud down the Himalayan river valleys, burying entire settlements and destroying roads, bridges and hydroelectric facilities.
Bishal Nath Upreti, president of the Nepal Centre for Disaster Management, told Al Jazeera that those trapped in the disaster zone face an “extremely difficult” situation, as access by road is impossible.
He noted that roughly 42 km (26 mi) of roadway has been completely obliterated, leaving helicopters as the sole means for rescuers to reach the affected areas.
According to Upreti, about 800 people have been lifted out by helicopter and 700 more have been evacuated by ground crews. Relief supplies are being air‑lifted to those in need.
“They are in desperate condition now,” he said of the stranded survivors. “More than 72 hours have passed, and they are yearning for shelter and food.”
Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, warned that the count of missing persons is likely to rise.
China has mobilized roughly 500 military and paramilitary personnel, and Premier Li Qiang has been sent to oversee the response, Yu reported.
“That is highly unusual and underscores how urgent and high‑priority this operation has become,” she added.
‘Anxious ticking clock’
Nepal has deployed around 30,000 security personnel to comb through remote valleys.
Secondary flooding concerns are complicating rescue efforts, as officials fear additional water could surge through the already battered region.
Focus is now on a newly formed barrier lake that straddles the Nepal‑China border. Both nations have cautioned that the lake is unstable and could breach at any moment.
Barrier lakes arise when floods or landslides dam a river, creating a growing reservoir behind a natural wall of debris.
Chinese authorities warned that the lake currently holds roughly two million cubic metres (70 million cubic feet) of water, with an additional three million cubic metres (106 million cubic feet) expected over the next three days.
Rescue and military teams en route to the border crossing of Gyirong—where structures lie buried under up to 1.5 metres of mud—have been ordered to halt operations temporarily due to the risk of further mudslides, Yu reports.
“What this introduces is a kind of anxious ticking clock,” the Al Jazeera correspondent noted, as crews race against time to locate survivors and retrieve victims before deteriorating conditions make the mission even more hazardous.
Waiting for answers
The foreign ministry in Kathmandu announced on Friday that Nepal currently sees no need for international assistance in the search effort.
“Offers of help are natural, but our security forces are capable of handling the search‑and‑rescue operation for now,” spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri stated.
Reporting from Kathmandu, Al Jazeera’s Minelle Fernandez explained that Nepal is not outright rejecting assistance, but based on advice from its military and police, it believes it can manage the initial phase of the rescue.
“They have called for other types of support, such as financial contributions, recognizing that this is an enormous undertaking,” Fernandez said.
Near the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, she observed crowds gathered, desperate for news about missing relatives.
“Everyone is vying for answers, hoping for a glimmer of hope, which at the moment seems elusive,” Fernandez concluded.
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