DE-ATH AND DESTRUCTION: 33 BRITS AMONG HUNDREDS UNACCOUNTED FOR AFTER TERRIFYING FLASH FLOODS TURN NEPAL VILLAGES INTO A MUDDY WASTELAND
A FRANTIC hunt for hundreds of missing tourists is underway after apocalyptic flash floods swept through Nepal, killing at least 160 people.
Dozens of Brits are feared dead, with at least 33 missing, after a torrent of floodwater, mud and debris bulldozed through a valley on the Tibetan border.
A major search mission is underway as hundreds remain missingCredit: AP
Several Nepali villages were devastated by killer flash floods and mudslidesCredit: AFP
A rescuer helps a mud-soaked child from the wreckageCredit: EPA
Security personnel rescue people in a dozer amid mud submerged buildingsCredit: Alamy
The UN has now mobilised supplies and personnel to help the Nepali-led search effort scouring flattened villages along the Bhotekoshi River.
India, which has at least 133 civilians missing, has sent humanitarian aid to Nepal, while the EU, US, UK and Canada “stand ready to assist” rescuers.
Nepali military personnel rescue a man stranded by the landslidesCredit: AFP
Several vehicles were consumed by the delugeCredit: EPA
Rescuers carry a victim to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot districtCredit: AP
Mud-soaked buildings along the Trishuli River banksCredit: AFP
Have you been affected by the floods or do you have any more information? Contact [email protected] or +447840651456
Homes, bridges and power lines were swept away in seconds along with victims with no chance of fleeing the fast-moving deluge.
Horrifying footage showed Tibet’s Gyirong Port land crossing totally engulfed as the brown wall of floodwater exploded over a 50-foot building.
Many terrified victims in the path of the torrent had no chance of escape as the tide crashed down a valley through a town, sweeping away an iron road bridge.
An enormous wall of mud and rock collapsed into a river on the Himalayan border and caused a colossal build-up of floodwater.
Biblical disaster scenes followed as the deluge broke free, sending a towering tsunami of floodwater crashing through a narrow valley.
A military helicopter rescuing a stranded young manCredit: AFP
Videos show fast-flowing water mixed with debris rushing under a bridge and crashing into homes sat near the banksCredit: Tahir Ibn Manzoor
The flood water quickly rose higher than the banks
The massive flood then surged down the Bhote Koshi River connected to the Lhende tributary, blasting through buildings along its banks.
Survivor Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, said: “It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us. As it got closer, it kept rising higher and higher.
“When I saw it enter our home, I tried to grab my wife’s hand and take her to the terrace. But she was swept away by the mud.
“Four or five hours later, a helicopter came to rescue me. My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She’s gone.”
The Nepal Tourist Board confirmed that 33 UK citizens remained missing last night.
Tour company Alpine Eco Trek said that 12 Brits aged between 13 and 65 were among them as Indian rescue teams joined disaster workers from China and Tibet.
Company spokesman Kumar Adhikari said two Irish nationals and four South Africans who were on the same excursion as the Brits are also unaccounted for.
Kumar said: “I feel so sad. We are just thinking about what to do next. We are in pain at the moment, deep pain.”
CCTV footage shows people running away as wall of mud destroys buildings in a valley at Nepal-China border, in GyirongCredit: Reuters
A wave of debris pounded what appeared to be a car park in Jiulong PortCredit: X/tears Lee
Floodwaters sweeping through houses along the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa districtCredit: AFP
In Nepal the Lende River broke its banks and flooded Rasuwa – killing eightCredit: Alamy
The missing Brits in the Alpine Eco group were heading to Mount Kailash in Tibet as part of a nine-day tour and last checked in from Miteri “Friendship Bridge” between Nepal and Tibet, which was swept away.
Kumar said he was in contact with the company’s tour guides until 8.40am when their phones went offline, which would have happened while they were in the Tibet tourist office.
The death toll stands at 157 but looked certain to rise amid scenes of devastation as villages, roads and power lines were washed off the map.
Chinese and Nepalese officials warned of “major casualties” and “huge-scale loss” after the floods.
Traumatised flood survivor Kalpana Malla told how her family had been swept away “in front of my eyes”.
Kalpana wept as she told how her parents, sister and sister’s children vanished in the flood.
She said: “They could not escape the flood; there was no chance at all.
“This flood took everything, but my son and I climbed the rooftop of a house and survived”.
Damaged power lines and a truck being dragged under the mud in NepalCredit: AP
A sea of mud following flash floods in Trishuli in Nuwakot districtCredit: Reuters
Satellite images shows Khadga Bhanjyang before a flash flood (top) and afterwards (bottom)Credit: Reuters
Another survivor, Tula Bahadur, a health worker in Rasuwa, said: “It all came suddenly.
“We heard a loud sound, like a volcano erupting. People started to scream and ran away – there is devastation everywhere we look.
“The settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my own relatives are missing.”
Britain’s embassy in Nepal said it was “deeply saddened by the devastating flooding” in the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
The Nepal Army deployed 14 helicopters and brought in disaster response teams to look for survivors as private aircraft also helped.
At least 93 survivors had been found with minor injuries as rescue efforts continued – with the youngest being a three-month old baby.
Authorities warned residents of several of Nepal’s districts to stay away from the banks of Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers amid fears of further flood carnage.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out” rescue operations as emergency crews scrambled to rescue people trapped in the rubble.
He said: “The most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people, treat injured people and minimise casualties to the greatest extent possible.”
Around 4,000 people live in the town at the Gyirong County border crossing between China and Nepal, north of Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
The nearby Langtang Khola Hydropower Project was also shut down by the disaster, amid fears that 60 workers were last seen entering a tunnel at the plant before the avalanche.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: “I am deeply concerned to hear of the flash floods on the Nepal-China border.
“All my thoughts are with those affected and with British nationals in the area and their relatives here at home.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has urged Britons in Nepal to follow local authority advice in the wake of the disaster.
