KATHMANDU, Nepal — The death toll from devastating flash floods and mudslides triggered by a glacial collapse along the mountainous border between Nepal and China has surpassed 1,400, authorities said Wednesday, while thousands of people, including hundreds of foreign nationals, remain missing.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that 1,403 deaths have been confirmed in the country, while emergency crews have rescued 13,742 people. An additional 6,150 people remain unaccounted for, 587 of whom are foreigners.
Across the frontier in Tibet, which Chinese authorities designate as the Xizang autonomous region, officials reported that 43 people have been confirmed dead and 519 remain missing, including 261 foreigners.
The catastrophe began Aug. 26 when a glacier fractured high on Nepal’s Mount Langtang Lirung at an altitude of approximately 5,200 meters (17,060 feet). The rupture unleashed a massive ice-and-rock avalanche that quickly transformed into an enormous debris flow, tearing through valleys flanking both sides of the border.
Surging torrents of water and thick mud devastated multiple regions across Nepal, cutting through Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Kavre districts, as well as inundating portions of the Kathmandu Valley. Across the border in Xizang, the powerful surge buried the Gyirong crossing, a key overland transit point connecting Nepal and China.
