Nepal floods latest: Rescue efforts enter fifth day with more than 2,400 missing after flash flood
Summary
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At least 675 people have died and more than 2,400 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say, after flash floods on Wednesday
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Rescue efforts continue on the Nepal-Tibet border – 320 foreign nationals are among the missing, Nepal’s tourism board says
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In Tibet, the official death toll is seven, with 554 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media
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Information is more tightly controlled by the Chinese authorities and it has been harder to assess the scale of the disaster in Tibet
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Levels at a lake formed after the floods – which had prompted safety concerns over fears it could overflow – are now receding, Chinese officials say
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US pledges $3.6m in aidpublished at 23:46 BST
The US will be providing $3.6m (£2.6m) in humanitarian assistance, including up to three months of emergency food assistance to 10,000 households affected by the floods, the State Department says.
“There is no higher priority for us than the safety of American citizens,” states a post from the department on X.
“Our embassies in Nepal and China are working closely to assist Americans and support disaster relief efforts.”
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Watch: Why is China censoring footage of the floods?published at 23:08 BST
Media caption, Our China correspondent Laura Bicker explains
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Rescuers battle adverse weather in effort to reach workers trapped in hydroelectric tunnelspublished at 22:44 BST
Image source, Nepalese governmentImage caption, An image shared by the Nepalese energy minister earlier on Saturday in a post providing updates on the rescue mission at the Trishuli-3 ‘A’ hydropower site
Throughout Saturday, Nepalese energy minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha provided updates on rescue efforts at hydroelectric facilities in the flood-hit area.
At the Trishuli-3 ‘A’ hydropower site rescuers have managed to drill a hole into one of the facility’s cable tunnels.
He says an initial inspection reveals no debris inside, but no communication has been established with anyone inside.
The hope is that rescuers will be able to make a hole big enough for a person to enter, which may allow rescuers to access the site’s main tunnel.
In his most recent update, he says rescuers would try and work through the night, but that there is a risk their efforts could be impacted and even suspended “for some time as water flow is increasing due to continuous rain”.
Earlier in the day, he said rescue efforts were also continuing at another hydroelectic facility, Trishuli-3 ‘B’.
Specialist teams from China and India have joined Nepalese rescuers for search and rescue efforts linked to a number of hydroelectric sites in the area.
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More than 250 foreign nationals rescued, Nepal Tourism Board sayspublished at 22:42 BST
In its most recent update, the Nepal Tourism Board said that 261 foreign nationals have been rescued while 320 are unaccounted for.
Officials have provided this breakdown showing how many people from each country have been rescued:
- Belgium – 1
- Bulgaria – 1
- China – 40
- Germany – 4
- India – 167
- Italy – 2
- Malta – 4
- Oman – 1
- Portugal – 1
- Russia – 2
- Spain – 2
- Switzerland – 2
- Turkey -2
- Ukraine – 8
- US – 3
- Unidentified – 21
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Rescue efforts enter fifth day on Nepal-Tibet border after flash floodspublished at 22:40 BST
Image source, ReutersRescue efforts have entered their fifth day in Nepal and Tibet after flash flooding devestated a border area on Wednesday.
The US Geological Survey and local officials believe the devestating flow of water, mud and debris was caused by a glacier collapsing.
In Nepal, at least 675 people have died, according to the country’s disaster response agency.
It says more than 2,400 people are missing, and more than 18,700 rescuers have been deployed.
In Tibet, the official death toll is seven, with 554 reported missing, according to Chinese state media.
Original source: https://www.bbc.com/
