Rescue teams on Saturday continued evacuating survivors from areas devastated by catastrophic flash floods along the Nepal-China border, while families anxiously searched for relatives still missing.
The combined death toll in Nepal and Tibet has risen to 633, while nearly 3,000 people remain unaccounted for, according to figures released by authorities. Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 people missing.
In Nepal’s Nuwakot district, one of the worst-hit areas, helicopter operations resumed before noon after bad weather temporarily disrupted aerial rescue efforts.
Some helicopters arrived carrying relief supplies, including clothes, instant noodles, crackers and rice, while others evacuated survivors from flood-hit communities.
At relief centres, soldiers helped elderly people and carried babies who had been rescued from the nearby community of Trishuli. Medical workers examined evacuees after they arrived.
As some residents were still being evacuated from Trishuli, others returned to their damaged homes to search for belongings that might have survived the floods.
One boy was seen carrying muddy sandals from his home, while resident Shoba Shretha returned to look for her dog, Sweetie, which she had been forced to leave behind during the flooding.
Relief workers later cleared villagers, journalists and volunteers from the entrance to the community as excavation machinery moved in to continue clearing mud and debris.
In the capital Kathmandu, relatives and friends gathered outside the main government hospital, hoping to find information about loved ones who have been missing since the disaster.
Families moved between help desks and hospital notice boards, checking lists of injured people and putting up posters containing photographs and contact numbers of missing relatives. Officials also displayed photographs of unidentified bodies in an effort to help families identify them.
Gajendra Rawat, a security official working at the hospital help desk, said around 1,600 missing people had been registered there since the disaster.
“People are coming from all parts of Nepal,” he said.
At a relief centre in Nuwakot, military personnel posted lists containing the names of dozens of missing people. Relatives gathered around the lists, taking photographs and searching anxiously for familiar names.
Rajesh Kumar Ram, who was searching for his son, said he was still hoping he might be found alive.
“I’m hopeful that my son is somewhere. Maybe they find him stuck somewhere. I’m waiting for that moment only,” he said.
Search and rescue operations were continuing at several locations in Nepal and China’s Tibet, including the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district and the heavily damaged Gyirong border crossing.
Nepali Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescue operations would continue at the hydropower project, where more than 100 people are believed to be trapped inside a tunnel filled with mud.
Rescuers have used baskets and ropes to reach some people, but the operation has been hampered by mud up to 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 metres) deep and limited helicopter landing sites.
Rescue teams have also remained alert to the possibility of further flooding from a newly formed lake high in the Himalayas. The lake was created after a glacier collapsed and triggered the initial floods on Wednesday.
Chinese monitoring data showed the lake had decreased in size by late Friday, with its water level falling about 10 metres (32 feet) from its peak on Thursday morning, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Meanwhile, aid trucks continued heading from Kathmandu toward the affected areas.
On the Chinese side, rescuers reached the devastated Gyirong Port on Saturday by foot and raft, while some were lowered into the area by drones, according to CCTV footage.
It remained unclear how many people were inside the border checkpoint building when the floods struck.
Nepal’s disaster agency said Saturday that the country’s death toll had reached 626, with 2,426 people still missing. More than 3,700 people have been rescued so far.
Chinese state media reported that 554 people remained missing on the Chinese side. Many of those unaccounted for are foreigners who had travelled to the area for work, trekking or pilgrimage.