Nepal suspends searches in some areas as 5,285 remain missing after floods

Nepal has partially suspended search and rescue operations after flash floods and mudslides struck areas along its border with China in August, with 5,285 people still missing.

A Nepalese official, who spoke to Anadolu on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to address the media, said operations had been suspended in areas where there was no indication survivors or missing people could be found. Searches are continuing in key locations, including tunnels.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 1,453 people had been killed and 13,795 rescued. Of those still missing, 636 are foreigners.

At least six hydropower projects on Nepal’s side of the border were hit by the floods. About 900 personnel were deployed at the facilities.

On the Chinese side, 43 people have been confirmed dead and 519 are missing, including 261 foreigners in Tibet, which Beijing calls the Xizang autonomous region.

The disaster began on Aug. 26, when a glacier on Nepal’s Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of 5,200 metres (17,060 feet). The rupture triggered an ice-and-rock avalanche that became a large debris flow and swept through valleys along the border.

Floods and mudslides devastated Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts, as well as the Kathmandu Valley. The disaster also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang.