A tourist accidentally films the collapse of a Nepalese glacier linked to a mudslide at Gyirong Harbor; A Chinese expert confirmed the location: Video | Today’s news
A glacier collapse triggered a massive avalanche of rock, ice, mud and debris that tore through mountain river systems on Wednesday, killing at least 626 people in Nepal and seven in China’s Tibet. A tourist recording the scenic landscape in Gyirong County, located in China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, inadvertently captured the moment a high-altitude glacier collapsed in Nepal, according to China Xinhua News.
Kang Shichang, director of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, confirmed that the location of the glacier collapse seen in the video matched remote sensing images. He said the footage is believed to show the collapse of the glacier that triggered the mudslide at Gyirong Port.
Nepal floods
Nearly 3,000 people remain missing, including around 2,426 in Nepal and at least 554 in Tibet’s Gyirong district. Among the missing are at least 540 foreign nationals, many of whom are Indian Hindu pilgrims.
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The recent flood disaster was triggered by the collapse of a glacier in Nepal, which sent a massive torrent of rocks, ice, mud and debris through mountain river systems.
Nearly 3,000 people are currently missing from the floods, including around 2,426 in Nepal and at least 554 in Tibet’s Gyirong district.
Nepal has rejected foreign aid in search and rescue in favor of deploying its own security forces, which are more familiar with the local terrain and conditions.
Nepal’s government estimates it will need $4 billion to $5 billion to rebuild after the floods.
Authorities are currently mobilizing around 15,000 personnel for rescue missions and deploying special operations teams to locate and find missing persons in challenging conditions.
Nepal, a Himalayan nation of about 30 million people, is estimated to require $4 billion to $5 billion to rebuild after the devastation caused by Wednesday’s floods, the finance minister told Reuters.
The country suspended search and rescue operations on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions and said it needed foreign technical assistance to deal with devastating floods that have hit an area along the Tibetan border.
Search and rescue operations have been temporarily halted as it is raining and foggy,” Narendra Pariyar, a senior bureaucrat in the hard-hit Rasuwa district, told Reuters.
According to him, the authorities are now focusing on securing land transport that would transport the rescued pilgrims to the capital, Kathmandu.
Read also | Nepal faces the threat of fresh floods as China warns of breaching of a lake near the Tibetan border
Three days after the floods claimed the lives, authorities said some of the recovered bodies had decomposed beyond recognition. They would be buried after completing the legal formalities due to health concerns and fears of possible epidemics.
“DNA samples will be taken and the bodies will be buried in the open,” the Chitwan district administration said in a statement.
Read also | Jaishankar receives Indian pilgrims from Nepal, evaluates rescue operations
In Kathmandu, relatives of the missing people gathered outside the Maharajgunj Medical Complex, where some of the recovered bodies were taken. Many tried to identify their family members from photographs of the bodies, with pictures displayed or attached to the hospital gate and boundary wall. Officials said only seven of the 49 bodies brought to the hospital had been identified.
Tibetan floods
At least 558 people remain missing in Tibet’s Gyirong County, China’s state-run CCTV reported on Thursday.
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Citing an assessment by the Ministry of Water Resources, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said the first barrier lake created after the disaster was shrinking. But a Chinese government expert on geohazards warned that the lake could remain unstable, while more than 100 glacial lakes across the region could also pose a risk.
A Politburo meeting in Beijing, chaired by President Xi Jinping, called for increased monitoring of glacial lakes and landslide threats, along with greater international cooperation in disaster response, Xinhua said.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the country’s second-in-command, visited the Gyirong area on Thursday afternoon, according to Xinhua. His visit signaled that Beijing considers the disaster a top national priority.
The border port of Gyirong is strategically important to China’s Belt and Road network connecting the country to South Asia. Over the past decade, logistics facilities and parking lots have been built around the port.
