Nepal floods kill 16; 105 Indians among 384 US, UK tourists reported missing

Dubai: At least 16 people have been killed and more than 100 Indians are among hundreds of tourists reported missing after massive flash floods tore through Nepal’s Himalayan region bordering China on Wednesday, sweeping away houses, trucks and infrastructure and triggering a major search and rescue operation.

Preliminary figures from the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) showed 384 tourists reported missing in affected areas, including 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepalis, according to IANS.

Among the foreign tourists are 105 Indians, as well as travellers from the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Malaysia, South Africa and the Netherlands.

However, the NTB stressed that the numbers were preliminary and were being cross-checked with travel agencies, guides, local authorities and security agencies. The nationalities of some missing travellers were also yet to be confirmed.

The tourists were associated with nine travel agencies, according to the preliminary assessment.

The reports of hundreds of missing tourists added a new dimension to a rapidly unfolding disaster along Nepal’s mountainous border with Tibet.

“So far, 16 bodies have been found. Rescue operations are underway,” Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told new agencies.

Images released by Nepali police showed torrents of muddy floodwater surging through mountain valleys and sweeping away structures.

Suman Chalise, a 34-year-old teacher, described watching the flood carry away trucks, homes and people.

“I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people,” he told AFP.

“It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.”

Helicopters deployed

The Nepal Army deployed helicopters and disaster-response personnel as authorities tried to establish the full scale of the destruction and locate those missing.

Police also warned people living close to rivers to move to safer areas.

The floods caused extensive damage to Nepal’s electricity infrastructure, with about 430 megawatts of generation capacity — including hydropower and solar facilities — affected, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority.

Production, transmission and distribution facilities were damaged, disrupting electricity supplies.

Several highways were also closed.

Across the border, Chinese authorities were dealing with another emergency.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported “major casualties and missing people” at Gyirong Port in Tibet following a mudslide, although no casualty figures were immediately released.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered an all-out rescue effort, with authorities saying the priority was to locate missing people and treat the injured.

What triggered the flood?

The precise origin of the disaster is still being investigated.

Sarthak Shrestha, a remote-sensing and geo-information analyst at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), told AFP that a preliminary assessment had detected “no anomalies” on the Chinese side of the border.

“We believe a rock-ice avalanche occurred in Nepal, blocking the Lhende river and causing the cascading flood event,” he said.

The danger may not be over.

Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at ICIMOD, warned that another flood could occur because a blockage remained upstream on the Nepal-China border river.

Nepal’s authorities are continuing search and rescue operations while trying to establish how many people remain unaccounted for.

For India, attention will be focused particularly on the 105 nationals listed in the Tourism Board’s preliminary missing-tourist figures.

Officials cautioned that those numbers remain subject to verification — meaning being listed as missing does not necessarily establish that the tourists were caught in the flood.

But with roads damaged, communications disrupted and rescue teams still struggling to assess remote areas, the whereabouts of hundreds of travellers remained uncertain on Wednesday.

The Nepal Tourism Board urged tourists in affected areas to remain calm, follow official safety instructions and remain in contact with authorities as the search continued.