Rescuers scour Nepal flood debris as risk of fresh flooding grows

Rescue teams using heavy machinery dug through mud and debris in Nepalese towns devastated by a flash flood two days ago, as hopes of finding survivors faded and officials worked to reduce the risk of further catastrophic flooding.

The confirmed death toll in Nepal rose to 469 people early on Friday, with almost 1 000 more missing there and in neighbouring Tibet, near where a glacier collapse on Wednesday morning sent a huge torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris cascading through Himalayan Mountain river systems.

The flood ripped through villages and valleys, destroying power stations, roads and bridges along a route that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet and is popular with trekkers and pilgrims.

Of those missing, at least 540 are foreigners.

Authorities in Nepal used helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys, while emergency services – some using sniffer dogs – recovered dozens of bodies swept down into the plains.

Dibga Tamang was among the last people rescued from the hard-hit town of Rasuwa on Thursday, airlifted along with three others to an army camp in Nuwakot.

“All of our people have gone.

They are dead,” Tamang said.

“I have no one left waiting for me.

Everything and everyone is gone.

The end.” The sheer amount of water and debris stirred up now risks triggering a further disaster.

Nepal’s disaster management authority warned that a lake formed by debris blocking the Bhotekoshi River was rising and at risk of bursting, while on the other side of the border China said that some 3 million cubic metres of water – the equivalent of about 1 200 Olympic-sized swimming pools – was expected to flow into an already dammed lake over the next three days.

There is a high risk the lake could breach, with peak flow expected around September 1, Chinese state media said, citing the water resources ministry.

Chinese authorities have mobilised an eight-member engineering team to conduct aerial surveys and 3D modelling of the barrier lake, but accessing it was challenging.