Himalayan flood: Search continues for 3,000 missing in Nepal and Tibet after glacier collapse
Three days after a devastating flood in the Himalayas, rescue efforts intensified on Saturday to locate approximately 3,000 individuals missing between Nepal and China's Tibet province. The disaster, attributed by experts and scientists to the collapse of a massive glacier, has left entire villages covered in a thick layer of mud. The provisional death toll stands at 682, with 675 bodies recovered on the Nepalese side and seven in Chinese Tibet. Nepalese rescuers managed to insert an air pipe into a tunnel where over a hundred workers, trapped while working on hydroelectric dam projects, might still be alive. Nepal's Minister of Interior, Sudan Gurung, stated that air is being supplied, and excavation will begin to reach them. Among the missing are hundreds of tourists, pilgrims en route to Mount Kailash in Tibet, foreign workers, and local residents. The Isha Foundation reported that 80 of its members on pilgrimage in the heavily affected Gyirong region are unaccounted for. Nepalese authorities and UN Climate chief Simon Stiell have linked the catastrophe to climate change, with Stiell emphasizing that global warming makes such tragedies more frequent and severe. Shisir Khanal, Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, highlighted that despite Nepal contributing less than 0.01% of greenhouse gases, its people are among the primary victims of climate change. The cost of reconstruction is estimated to be in the billions of dollars, and Nepal has appealed for international support.
