Seoul Gazette - New flood risks impede Nepal, Tibet rescue

Emergency teams have recovered 482 bodies after a tsunami-like wall of water and mud crashed down on Wednesday, burying homes, smashing bridges and sweeping away vehicles.

More than 1,400 people are missing, including trekkers in the Himalayas and scores of Hindu pilgrims to Tibet's sacred snow-capped Mount Kailash.

The US Geological Survey said the disaster -- the deadliest for Nepal since a 2015 earthquake -- was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.

The deluge of ice and mud also caused huge pools of water to form, with one of these formations becoming a direct threat to emergency workers scouring the region for survivors.

Nepali police urged all rescuers to "immediately move to a safe location", saying it had received information that "a water dam has burst again on the Tibetan side".

Separately in Tibet, China had earlier Friday paused its rescue operation at the hardest-hit area of Gyirong over the risk of renewed flooding, before later saying the threat had eased.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that a lake formed by immense piles of debris began overflowing toward where rescue teams were headed, but later said the water level of the pool was dropping so the "the risk is gradually decreasing".

Rescue operations were therefore "proceeding in an orderly manner", it added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who chaired a meeting on rescue efforts Friday, offered Beijing's help to Nepal's emergency operations.

"China is willing to actively assist Nepal in its rescue efforts and provide support and aid to the best of its ability," Xi said in a condolence message to Nepal's president, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

- Tunnel rescue operation -

Emergency teams had been racing to retrieve survivors from affected zones, where the widespread devastation meant food and water supplies were running out.

The Nepali military had meanwhile located people trapped in the tunnel of Trishuli 3A hydropower project, where they were working to find a way in to extract the survivors.

"Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel," army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.

Some 350 workers and residents have been brought to safety from the site, he added, but efforts were ongoing to rescue more than 100 people trapped in the same area.

Workers rescued from other dam projects along the Trishuli valley described a disaster that unfolded with terrifying speed.

Buddha Tamang told AFP he survived only because he was inside a tunnel at the dam where he worked when the flood struck.

"I survived as I was in the tunnel," said Tamang, who was airlifted on Thursday after being marooned for more than 24 hours.

"The senior officers working on the other side, they were all swept away," he told AFP.

- 'Washed away' -

Survivors in a makeshift Nepali hospital endured an agonising wait for news of their missing loved ones.

Kula Priya, whose eldest son is missing, said she had lost everything when the wave of mud and water swept in.

"I don't care for wealth. I just want my son back. If any of you could rescue my son, please do it for me," she told AFP.

Nepali police have reported a death toll of 477 people.

In India, authorities said they had recovered seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, believed to be flood victims.

There are 977 people, including 517 foreign tourists, who are out of contact in Nepal.

Indians make up the largest number of missing foreigners, while the United States said 90 of its citizens were out of contact.

Across the border in Tibet, which is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists and where the only sources of information are Chinese authorities -- officials say 558 people are missing and five died.

Authorities also said they had evacuated 555 stranded tourists and 499 Chinese residents from Tibet.

- Pilgrimage route -

Scores of Hindu devotees from across the world are among those missing on the border, as many were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash on the Chinese side.

"Then there was fog, smoke, something that seemed to suddenly engulf us," Muthunathan, 46, told AFP on Friday, showing a phone video she recorded of a torrent surging towards her.

Around them, vehicles were swept away or buried under mud.

"One by one, we also climbed out through the driver's side," she said, then scrambled up a hill.

Logadarrsiny Raman, 26, from Malaysia, said she lost contact on Wednesday morning with her parents, aunt and uncle, who were on a pilgrimage.

"I'm very anxious," she told AFP. "My only hope is to hear back from them that they are safe."

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J.Lim--SG