Massive Damage from Nepal Floods: 8 South Koreans Unreachable, 10 Stranded

[Anchor]

A massive landslide and flash flood have struck the border region between China's Tibet Autonomous Region and Nepal. Currently, 8 South Korean nationals are out of contact, and another 10 are stranded awaiting rescue.

First, Beijing correspondent Choi Go-un reports on the damage situation.

[Reporter]

Muddy water as massive as houses roars down the valley at high speed, sweeping everything in its path.

People desperately blow whistles, but with no time to escape, the torrent engulfs a hydroelectric power plant construction site, while bridges connecting villages are washed away by the fierce currents.

[Nepal Resident: This used to be the main market, located on the way to Kathmandu. There used to be a market here. But now, there is nothing left.]

This morning (August 26), a massive flood and landslide occurred in the Himalayan border area connecting Jilong County in China's Tibet Autonomous Region and the Rasuwa district in Nepal.

Nepali police reported that multiple villages were instantly swept away by water, and at least 8 people have been confirmed dead so far.

Rescue operations are currently underway, but given the wide scale of the damage, casualties are expected to rise further.

President Xi Jinping has instructed authorities to mobilize all available means to search for and rescue the missing and evacuate residents in danger.

Zhang Guoqing, a member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, headed to the site with officials from relevant departments to direct rescue and recovery efforts.

However, rescue operations are expected to face difficulties as roads leading to the affected villages have been destroyed in various places, and power supplies have been cut off due to damage to hydroelectric and solar power generation facilities.

The cause of this flash flood has not yet been identified.

However, a flood that occurred in the same river in July of last year, causing dozens of casualties, was found to have been caused by the outburst of a glacial lake.

Global warming caused glacial meltwater to fill lakes, which then poured downstream in an instant.

Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events.

(Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.