Tag: Tibet

The two men were among hundreds of workers who vanished after the glacial collapse wreaked havoc in Nepal along its border with China on August 26. The disaster has so far claimed at least 1,280 lives, with more than 5,500 people still missing.

Survivors of Nepal's massive flood are not just grieving individuals; they are grieving the loss of an entire social ecosystem that once made loneliness almost impossible in these tightly-knit hill communities. For Nepalis working abroad, the flood has produced a distinct and painful form of solitude: watching the catastrophe unfold on a phone screen.

Recovering bodies is only part of the challenge. Post-mortem and legal identification procedures have been completed for 1,113 of the recovered bodies, but only 95 have actually been returned to grieving families. To speed the process, authorities have published details of 911 unidentified bodies on the Nepal Police website.

More than 11,000 people have been pulled to safety so far in flood-hit Nepal. Only 279 workers have been pulled out of hydropower project sites in the ongoing rescue and relief operations. As many as 639 people are said to be still stuck at those sites.

If the 28-member group from southern India had reached Syabrubesi bridge, all of them would have lost their lives because the bridge was washed away in the devastating floods.

Among the missing are dozens of Americans, at least 41 Australians and other foreign nationals — including trekkers, pilgrims and tour groups who were in the region when the disaster struck. Nearly 3,000 stranded people, including more than 160 foreigners, have so far been pulled to safety by rescue teams.

The precautionary pause in rescue work was sparked by a sudden overflow from a lake on the Nepal-China border, alarming Nepali authorities. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that the upstream lake was no longer an imminent hazard.

Among the more than 1,000 people still missing after Nepal’s devastating flood are about 500 tourists from abroad, including at least 288 Indians. As many as 100 Chinese citizens are also missing in Nepal.

WATCH | Muddy water columns rose higher than buildings and swept them away along with river bridges that were smashed into pieces. PM Narendra Modi speaks to his Nepal counterpart. India is sending two military planes carrying aid.