Catastrophic floods kill over 270 in Nepal and Tibet, with more than 1,300 missing

Rescue teams are searching for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-Tibet border after the collapse of a glacier sent a deadly wall of water and mud several stories high tearing through communities a day earlier

DEVIGHAT, Nepal -- Rescue teams searched Thursday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-Tibet border after the collapse of a glacier sent a deadly wall of water and mud several stories high tearing through communities a day earlier.

Videos of the disaster showed people running before the floodwaters swallowed them up and washed out buildings and bridges. At least 273 people were killed, more than 1,300 are missing, including foreigners and pilgrims, and hundreds have been displaced across the Himalayan region.

The steep slopes and the lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range — home to many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers — are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Melting glaciers have become more common because of human-caused climate change.

Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal’s hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

Nirajan Paudyal, a journalist based in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu, worried for his parents and other relatives who live in the small village of Soley in the district.

"There is no update till now. I fear there won’t be any update,” Paudyal said.

The disaster has left at least 270 dead and 826 people missing in Nepal, and three dead and 558 missing in Tibet, an autonomous region of China, authorities said.

Nepalese officials said that dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads were damaged, complicating search efforts.

The Nepalese army has rescued more than 100 people from flood-affected areas through helicopter operations, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said. Army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project, he added.

Dozens of injured people have been transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care.

Rescuers found bodies hundreds of kilometers (miles) downstream from the hardest-hit areas of Chitwan district.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said they have shifted their focus from rescue to large-scale relief operations in the flood-hit districts. He said that around 1,200 people were displaced from at least three villages.

In Tibet, a mudslide that struck near the land border crossing of Gyirong Port on Wednesday left mud in the surrounding areas that was more than 1½ meters (5 feet) deep on average, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Roads leading to the crossing were all damaged, while secondary collapses or landslides might occur as rain continued in the area, it added.