Kathmandu: At least 105 Indian tourists are among 291 foreign nationals reported missing after a flash flood hit Nepal’s Rasuwa area on Wednesday, the Nepal Tourism Board has said.
Three nationals from the US, 17 from Malaysia, 12 from the UK, four from South Africa, one from Australia and one from the Netherlands are also among those missing. The nationalities of 103 others are yet to be confirmed.
The sudden, massive flood swept through two central Nepal districts bordering Tibet, killing eight people, causing extensive devastation to settlements along the river and damaging at least a dozen hydropower projects.
According to officials, the flood surged through the Bhote Koshi River at around 9 am local time from the Tibet side, affecting Rasuwa and Dhading districts bordering Tibet and Nuwakot district, southwest of Kathmandu.
The flooding was not caused by local rainfall in Rasuwa, but may have been triggered by heavy rainfall or an avalanche on the Tibetan side, officials said. However, the exact cause is yet to be ascertained.
According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Wednesday’s flooding was not caused by rainfall in Rasuwa, as reported by News18.
Dinkar Kayastha, information officer at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said the flooding did not appear to have been caused by heavy rainfall in Rasuwa itself.
It might have been caused by either the formation of a new glacier or the bursting of an old one, he added.
“We are still studying the matter, so the real cause is not yet known,” he said, maintaining that the risk of flooding from the Tibetan side has not yet vanished and that “we need to be cautious.”
Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the sudden surge, with officials examining whether it was triggered by a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) or another factor, The Himalayan Times reported.
Several downstream districts, including Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Chitwan, have been placed on high alert as officials launched search and rescue operations with the help of the Nepal Army in the affected areas.
The sudden water level rise caused widespread destruction in Timure in Rasuwa district and the nearby Syafrubesi area, with vehicles, goods and other property washed away, the Nepal Army said in a statement.
Rasuwa is the worst-affected area is Rasuwa, about 125 km northeast of Kathmandu, near the Tibet border.
The bodies of three men and a woman were recovered from Bidur Municipality in Nuwakot district after the flash flood, a Senior Superintendent of Police and spokesperson at the Bagmati Province Police Office told PTI.
