More than 550 missing in Tibet after floods that left hundreds also missing in Nepal

UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal: China's Xinhua News Agency said Thursday that mudslides in Tibet caused by a glacial collapse have left three people dead and 558 missing, while police in Nepal reported at least 162 were killed after massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China swept through communities a day earlier and halted travel in some areas.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that 260 of the 558 missing people were foreigners and two villagers were rescued. At least three people were killed as of Thursday morning, it said.

Officials in Nepal earlier said 403 people, including 341 foreigners, were reported missing. Sunil Sharma, a tourism board spokesperson, said 133 were from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. Also missing were 47 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from Britain and 24 from Canada, he said. The State Department said it was aware of Americans affected.


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Drone footage showed roads destroyed and buildings buried by thundering water the color of wet cement.

The region's steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors but are precarious when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nepal's hard-hit Nuwakot district slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud.

There was little time for anyone to flee.

"When I reached Dhunge bazaar, in half an hour, the flood came and damaged all the market. People were preparing to go to office then," resident Shoyam Rajbhandari said. "How many people are missing or dead, we don't know."