More than 550 missing in Tibet after floods that left hundreds also missing in Nepal

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Drone footage in Nepal showed roads destroyed and buildings buried by thundering water the color of wet cement.

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The region’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors but are precarious when disaster strikes. 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. The floods halted travel in some areas.

There was little time for anyone to flee.

“When I reached Dhunge bazaar, in half an hour, the flood came and damaged all the market. People were preparing to go to office then,” resident Shoyam Rajbhandari said. “How many people are missing or dead, we don’t know.”

Officials in Nepal earlier said 403 people, including 341 foreigners, were reported missing. Sunil Sharma, a tourism board spokesperson, said 133 were from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. Also missing were 47 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 24 from Canada, he said. The State Department said it was aware of Americans affected.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters Thursday at least 34 Australians on pilgrimages and hiking tours were missing.

“We understand these Australians were part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups,” Wong told reporters in Adelaide, Australia.

The Nepalese government had not yet requested help but Australia was coordinating with Nepal, the United Nations, Red Cross and other organizations on a humanitarian response, she said.

The U.S. Geological Survey first reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake early Wednesday, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border. The USGS later updated its analysis to say the seismic event it measured was a magnitude 5.2 glacial collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery, and that no earthquake had occurred.

Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.

“Hydrological observations indicate the exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave,” they said in an emailed statement, noting that water levels at one point on the Trishuli river rose by as much as 9 meters (27 feet) over half an hour.

The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi, had maximum flooding, they said.

“The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in 14 months, this time triggered by an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” said Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the climate research group.

He noted the importance of early warnings in “a warming Himalaya.”

The Himalayan mountain range spans several countries in South Asia and has many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers.

Researchers in Kathmandu found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting faster, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000.

The Associated Press