Anand to provide update as Nepal, China flood death toll crosses 500

Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety Friday, as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing.

Rescue teams were put on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that has formed high up on the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods on Wednesday. Experts warn that the lake, formed after the glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.

Nepal’s army was deployed to help rescue more than 100 people believed trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower plant located in the country’s worst-hit district. Like elsewhere in the disaster zone, their work was complicated by thick layers of mud that covered the site.

The floods have killed 538 in Nepal, the country’s disaster management authority said Friday. Nepali police later put the number of deaths higher at 547. There was little information on survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to five Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders’ efforts to direct the relief response.

More than 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far, but 977 people remain unaccounted for in the country. China’s state media previously said 558 people were missing on the Chinese side. Hundreds of the missing are foreigners in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.

Nepali police issued a fresh alert Friday after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side has burst. Security personnel and rescue and relief workers were told to stay on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary.

It is unclear if the dam bursting is related to flooding concerns over a barrier lake that formed after the initial flash floods. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the newly-formed lake, located more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal, sits at an elevation of 2,950 meters (9,680 feet.)

Nepali and Chinese authorities earlier warned of further flooding from the barrier lake, which was already overflowing. Rescue workers heading to the disaster zone were ordered to stop temporarily Friday morning due to concern the lake would release more torrents of water and debris, and people in potentially affected areas were urged move to safer ground.

The flash floods along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River are absolutely devastating. Canadians are thinking of all those in distress right now, those who have lost a loved one, and all those who are still waiting for answers. Our government is closely following the situation and…

Some 680 rescuers eventually reached the hardest-hit area at Gyirong by foot and via rafts after much effort. Some were dropped down from drones flown to the area, CCTV footage showed.

Nepali police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told The Associated Press that the rescue operation was continuing but with high alert.