Nepal Floods Leave Over 1,800 Dead or Missing Amid Fears of Secondary Flooding

Search and rescue operations are facing severe difficulties as the death and missing tolls surge following a massive flood in the Himalayan mountainous region along the China-Nepal border.

Concerns over a secondary flood are also rising as terrestrial transportation networks remain paralyzed, with communications and power supplies cut off.

According to the governments of Nepal and China on the 28th (local time), the disaster has left 392 dead and 1,468 missing across the two countries.

While the number of casualties continues to rise over time, search and rescue operations are far from easy as the accident sites have been reduced to ruins.

Local rescue teams are heavily reliant on helicopters because roads connecting the capital Kathmandu to key affected areas such as Rasuwa have been severed in multiple places, while communication and power grids in the disaster zones have also collapsed, making it difficult to even assess the situation.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) of Nepal stated that 80 bridges and roads spanning 40 kilometers have been damaged.

In Tibet, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, commissioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping, arrived at the site the previous day to direct emergency rescue and disaster relief operations, but rescue teams reportedly face difficulties accessing the area due to cut-off roads.

With massive amounts of debris piled up and rugged terrain making search and rescue for the missing difficult, concerns are also mounting that a secondary flood could occur.

Nepal's disaster authorities warned of a collapse risk, stating that water levels in a newly formed lake caused by debris blocking the upper reaches of the river are rising at the flood site.

They urged downstream residents and rescue workers to exercise extreme caution, asking them to stay in safe locations away from riverbanks and hazardous areas.

According to Reuters, some Nepalese rescue workers began moving to higher ground starting the previous day following this warning.

Pawan Koirala, a rescue worker, said he emerged from the riverbed area with 13 team members, stating, "We came here to conduct rescue operations, but we do not want to stay near the danger zone."


The International Centre for Integrated Development (ICIMOD), headquartered in Kathmandu, also projected the possibility of additional flooding, noting that a barrier formed by ice and rock remains in the upper reaches of the Lende River, which flows along the Nepal-China border.

In fact, satellite imagery verified by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority captured the flow of the Lende River blocked 18 kilometers north of the Rasuwagadhi border checkpoint in Bagmati Province.

An ICIMOD official said, "A blocked section still remains in the upper reaches of the river in the Nepal-China border area, and authorities are warning that a second flood could occur."

The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources also warned the previous day of the risk of further collapses and downstream flooding, forecasting that the volume of water in the barrier lake formed by landslides blocking the water path could increase up to 3 million cubic meters over the next three days.

However, experts evaluated that the newly formed lake near Mount Langtang Lirung (7,234 meters above sea level), where the massive flood began following a glacial collapse, is relatively small in scale.

Ranjan Kumar Dahal, a professor in the Central Department of Geology at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, told local media Online Khabar, "If the area of the (new) lake expands, there is a concern that another flood could occur," but added, "Because this lake is small in scale, even if it collapses, it will be different from the disaster on the 26th."

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