Rescue operations for the border floods between China and Nepal entered the fifth day on Sunday, August 30th. It is currently known that 804 people have died on both sides of the border, with over 3,000 people missing. Nepalese authorities issued a warning on Sunday about the possibility of another flood outbreak.
According to the Nepalese disaster response agency on Sunday, the death toll has risen to 788 people, with an additional 2,502 people missing. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities reported that 16 people have died and 546 people are missing on the Chinese side of the border.
Nepalese authorities warned on Sunday that with the water level rising in the Bhotekoshi River, there could be another flood. Authorities urged residents in the affected areas to remain vigilant. The country’s disaster response agency stated that nearly 20,000 security personnel have been mobilized for rescue operations, with 8,730 people rescued so far.
Earlier on Sunday, Nepalese authorities sent flood warning messages to residents’ mobile phones. Rescue teams are working to clear a major highway, which connects Kathmandu with one of the areas hardest hit by the severe flooding on Wednesday, August 26th.
According to reports from the Associated Press, in Galchhi town in Nepal, along a riverbank, houses, vehicles, and agricultural tractors can be seen peeking out from thick brown sediment. In some areas, the sediment has even submerged entire villages. Some terraced fields along the riverbank collapsed into the river after landslides.
News from Tibet is particularly disheartening. The Gyirong Port in Shigatse, Tibet is the worst-hit area on the Chinese border. According to BBC reports, officials in Shigatse said that rescue teams have not found any survivors. They have been searching for several days, and as the emergency rescue operation enters its fifth day, hopes of finding other survivors have become very slim. Currently, 546 people are reported missing, indicating that the death toll in Tibet is expected to rise.
After floods and landslides destroyed the infrastructure in the affected areas of Tibet, engineers are on the verge of reopening a road leading to the severely affected region. However, tragically, by the time this road is reopened, it may be too late for hundreds of missing individuals.
One of the focuses of rescue efforts in Nepal is rescuing workers trapped inside a hydropower project tunnel. Rescue personnel are currently conducting operations at Trishuli-3A.
Interior Minister Sudan Gurung announced the latest updates on Saturday, August 29th, on Facebook, stating that rescue teams have reached the top of the tunnel and are supplying air into the tunnel through a small hole.
He mentioned that the rescue teams are “now starting the excavation and sending rescue teams inside the tunnel.”
As of now, more than 900 hydropower project workers have been confirmed missing. Rescue teams have yet to establish contact with those trapped inside the tunnel.