Catastrophic Nepal, Tibet flood death toll soars as 25 Canadians still missing

Catastrophic flash floods in a border area of China and Nepal have killed at least 353 and left more than 1,300 people missing as of Thursday. Many were foreigners in the area for trekking, guided tours or a pilgrimage to a sacred Hindu site.

The number of missing from Wednesday’s disaster may vary across agencies because of differences in how they collected data, when it was reported and how it was verified, as well as gaps in coordination between those assembling data and those conducting rescue efforts in the affected area.

Police reported at least 353 dead and 826 missing. Local reports cited the National Emergency Operation Center as saying Thursday the missing included 113 Nepali tourists, 85 security personnel from the army and police as well as 161 residents from the Rasuwa district and one from the Nuwakot district.

The National Tourism Board later Thursday said 517 foreigners were missing.

State media reported at least three people died and 558 were missing in Gyirong County, Tibet. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that 260 of the 558 missing people were foreigners. In addition, nearly 100 Chinese citizens were missing on the Nepal side, China’s foreign ministry said.

India’s External Affairs Ministry said 288 Indian nationals remain uncontactable. They included 73 people who were working on a power project. Nepal officials have said many Indian tourists were on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that 55 Ukrainians are missing. The number includes two tourist groups of 47 and seven people, in addition to one Ukrainian woman travelling with a foreign tour group, the ministry said.

South Korean government officials said nine citizens working on building a hydropower plant in Nepal were missing.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed worry about five Japanese nationals whom local media reported were missing.

Five people from New Zealand were missing, said Nepal’s tourism board.

The board said two people each from Italy, Kazakhstan, Portugal, Ireland and Netherlands were missing. It said 10 others — one each from Belarus, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Philippines, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Serbia and Sweden — were also missing.