Bidur (Nepal) (AFP) – Rescuers in Nepal and China were battling on Saturday to locate thousands of people missing days after a deadly, tsunami-like wall of water and debris swept through the Himalayan region, engulfing entire villages.
Figures from both countries put the number of missing close to 3,000, with 682 bodies recovered -- and reports of some dead possibly swept downstream as far away as India. Rescue worker Kawan Koirala, from the Nepal Scout Disaster Response Team, said they were struggling in thick, leg-sucking mud. "People want their family member's body back, either dead or alive, but we cannot find them... you can see the mud," he told AFP, exhausted after an 18-hour shift. "It is very traumatic for me too. It is my first time seeing these types of things. Everywhere is mud. We faced flood in Nepal before, but not like this." The US Geological Survey said the disaster on the Tibet-Nepal border on Wednesday was caused by a glacial collapse that created a torrent of debris downstream. While the exact cause of the collapse is unclear, climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of such disasters. EU joins aid effort as more than 1,300 remain missing after Nepal floods 'Nothing left' Survivors face an agonising wait to learn the fate of missing relatives, and the prospect of rebuilding their lives from nothing.
