As rescue efforts in communities buried by catastrophic flash floods along the border between Nepal and China entered their fourth day on Saturday, authorities continued finding survivors and transporting them to safety.
At relief centres, as some arrive, families wait anxiously for news of their loved ones as the death toll and the number of people unaccounted for continued to rise.
After Nepali authorities updated their figures on Saturday, the combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 633 dead and nearly 3,000 people missing. Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing.
CBC News is on the ground in Nepal, where fears are growing that a swollen artificial lake formed by this week’s massive flash flood along the Tibet border could cause another flooding disaster. So far at least 579 people have been confirmed dead, while almost 2,000 are still missing.
In Nuwakot, one of the Nepali districts devastated by the floods, helicopters resumed operations before noon on Saturday after poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue activities.
Some helicopters were loaded with boxes and bags of aid, including clothes, instant noodles, crackers and rice. Others returned from the flood-hit areas carrying survivors.
Villagers return to devastated homes
As people were still leaving Trishuli, some village residents were returning to see what could be salvaged from their decimated homes.
One boy walked out of the village carrying muddy sandals from his house. A woman, Shoba Shrestha, returned to find her dog, Sweetie, whom she was forced to leave behind when the floods came. Shrestha sat on the ground petting her and feeding her water from a bottle.
At some point, relief co-ordinators cleared villagers, reporters and volunteers from the entrance to Trishuli, as excavation equipment drove into the flooded village to dig.
Families begin to lose hope
In Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, relatives and friends gathered outside the main government hospital from early morning, desperately searching for news of missing loved ones.
Many shuffled between the help desk and the hospital notice board, clutching photographs and scanning injured patients’ lists in the hope of finding them.
Dil Maya Lama stood weeping outside the help desk at the hospital, searching for information about her missing 26-year-old brother, a driver for a hydropower company in Rasuwa. She had travelled from Ramechhap, about 130 kilometres.
“I came here with the hope that I might find him,” she said. “There is no information about him.”
Families of Canadians missing after the Nepal-Tibet flash flood disaster are desperate for any news of their loved ones, with some planning to travel to join the search efforts. Of the 32 Canadians reported missing, none have yet been confirmed dead.
Families covered hospital walls with posters showing missing relatives, photographs and contact numbers in a desperate appeal for any clue that could bring them home.
Nearby were photographs of unidentified bodies that officials put up in hopes they could be recognized by families or friends.
Gajendra Rawat, a security official at the hospital help desk, said families had so far registered about 1,600 missing persons since the disaster struck. “People are coming from all parts of Nepal,” he said.
Back in Nuwakot, military personnel taped sheets of paper listing dozens of missing people to a wall at a relief centre, prompting families to crowd around them. Some scanned lists of the missing and dead, took photos and wiped away tears as they looked through the names.
Rajesh Kumar Ram desperately searched a list for his son’s name.
“I’m hopeful, by chance, that my son is somewhere,” he said, crying as he spoke. “Maybe they find him stuck somewhere. I’m waiting for that moment only.”
Rescuers battle to find survivors in disaster-hit areas
Search-and-rescue efforts continued at several locations in Nepal and Tibet, including the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district and the severely damaged Gyirong border crossing on the Chinese side.
Nepali army spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescue efforts would continue at the hydropower construction site, where authorities believe more than 100 people are trapped in a tunnel filled with thick mud.
Basnet said rescuers had used baskets and ropes to reach some people, but the operation remained difficult.
He said rescue teams had also been forced to relocate temporarily when authorities issued warnings about possible further flooding.
Rescuers have been on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up in the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods on Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.
Monitoring data from the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources showed late Friday that the lake had dwindled in size. The water level dropped by 10 metres from a high point on Thursday morning, Chinese broadcaster CCTV said.
Aid trucks could be seen traveling from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, toward the affected areas.
Search continues at devastated China-Nepal border
The Chinese broadcaster showed images on Saturday of rescuers arriving at Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal. Some reached the area by foot or via rafts, while others dropped down from drones flown to the area. “Anyone, anyone?” rescuers yelled.
It was not immediately known how many people were at the border checkpoint building when the floods hit.
On Saturday, Nepal’s disaster agency said the death toll had climbed to 626, with 2,426 people missing in the country. More than 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far.
The death toll in China rose to seven on Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders’ efforts to direct the relief response. China’s state media said 554 people were missing on the Chinese side. Hundreds of the missing are foreigners who were in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.
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