Death Toll in Nepal Floods Surges to 359, with 823 Missing

On the 27th (local time), the second day since a massive flood struck the mountainous region of the Nepal Himalayas near the Chinese border, the death toll surged to 359.

According to local Nepali media outlet Online Khabar and AFP, Nepali police reported that 359 people had died as of the afternoon following the massive flood that hit areas across Bagmati Province the previous day.

As search operations continued today, bodies were discovered across Bagmati Province, doubling the death toll from 157 reported the previous day.

The bodies of 100 Indian tourists and 25 Chinese workers who went missing near the Trishuli River in Bagmati Province were successively recovered today.

Abi Narayan Kafle, a spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said, "Search operations resumed (today) and we expect more bodies to be recovered," adding that "the death toll will continue to rise."

The number of missing persons, which was tallied at 484 the previous day, surged to 823 within a single day amid a flurry of reports.

Among the total missing, 517 are foreign nationals and more than 200 are Nepalis.

The missing foreigners are reportedly from some 30 countries, including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Italy, and Ukraine.

Nine South Koreans affiliated with Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility who were constructing a hydroelectric power plant in the region have also lost contact.

Among 10 other South Koreans affiliated with Doosan Enerbility who were known to be stranded locally, nine were moved to safe areas today.

The remaining official, a Doosan Enerbility site manager, stayed behind locally, along with two embassy officials including a consul and an administrative staff member from the South Korean Embassy in Nepal.

A government joint rapid response team composed of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Police Agency, and National Fire Agency departed from Incheon International Airport today and arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority of Nepal stated that 80 bridges and 40 kilometers of roads were damaged, and 83 security personnel, including local police and soldiers, are missing.

Raja Ram Basnet, a spokesperson for the Nepalese Army, explained that more than 100 people were rescued from the flood-affected areas through helicopter operations.

The Nepal Red Cross Society reported that entire villages were destroyed and that areas are completely isolated due to severed roads and bridges.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, President of the Nepal Red Cross Society, added that about 1,200 people have evacuated from at least three villages and that rescue operations in the affected areas have been shifted to large-scale relief operations.

In Gyirong County, Xigaze, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region near the Nepali border, a landslide believed to be linked to the cause of this flood occurred, leaving 3 dead and 558 missing.

Among these missing persons, 260 are foreign nationals.

Combined, the number of missing persons in Nepal and Tibet exceeds 1,300.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated today that 288 Indians are missing in Nepal and 200 are stranded in Tibet.

It has been suggested that this flood occurred when a massive amount of glaciers and rocks collapsed due to climate change in the Himalayas caused by global warming.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initially stated that a magnitude 4.4 earthquake occurred in the Tibet region, but later issued a new report clarifying that no earthquake had taken place.

It estimated that an impact similar to an earthquake occurred during the process of massive glaciers and rock collapses, after which glacier collapses and debris flows swept downstream, causing severe flooding.

Flash floods occur when so-called "natural dams" made of ice and rock trapping lakes suddenly collapse.

Experts have predicted that such floods will increase in the future due to climate change.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.