KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescue teams with search dogs scoured mud, rocks and debris in Nepal and China on Tuesday in search of thousands of people still missing after catastrophic floods that devastated communities across the Himalayas and left more than 1,000 dead. Nepal’s disaster agency said on Tuesday that 987 deaths had been recorded there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreigners. Chinese authorities, in their latest update on Sunday, reported 16 dead and 546 people still missing, including 261 foreigners. The scale of last week’s disaster was hampering rescue efforts in both regions, with landslides, destroyed roads and widespread damage isolating remote areas. Crews faced difficult conditions as they searched unstable terrain and piles of rubble, raising fears that the death toll could rise as rescuers reached isolated communities. At least 168 people died and more than 1,300 were missing after catastrophic and deadly torrents of floods and mud swept through several communities along the Nepal-China border following the collapse of a glacier. Rescuers race to reach missing hydropower workers In Nepal, rescuers raced to reach hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside the tunnels of flood-damaged hydropower projects. According to Nepalese authorities, about 900 workers are missing at 12 projects and approximately 500 are believed to be trapped in tunnels. Brig. General Raja Ram Basnet, spokesman for Nepal’s army, said teams assisted by foreign experts were working on several hydropower projects. Footage released by the military showed rescuers entering dark, debris-filled tunnels, wading through mud and water and climbing rocks as they searched for signs of life. On the Chinese side, rescue teams searched areas affected by landslides, particularly around the Gyirong port border crossing, which was destroyed. Some rescuers, aided by search dogs, looked for signs of life in the gaps between rocks and rubble. Other teams used heavy machinery to clear a major road leading to the port of Gyirong, hoping to clear the way for equipment, personnel and supplies to reach the disaster area, according to Chinese state newspaper Global Times. Relief operations are expanded to reach stranded communities. At least 11,814 people have been rescued so far, according to Nepalese authorities. Emergency crews were using helicopters and other aircraft to reach stranded communities in areas where roads and bridges have been destroyed by flooding and landslides. On Tuesday, authorities also stepped up efforts to provide assistance to survivors in areas where roads and other transportation routes had been damaged or cut off. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China’s second batch of aid supplies to Nepal was expected to be sent on Tuesday, including drones, DNA testing and water purification equipment. Chinese DNA testing experts will also help identify bodies from Nepal, he said. Bimal Sharma, a helicopter pilot who has been flying rescue and relief missions since the disaster began, said he was shocked to see the devastation in Timure, a border town near Tibet that he has known for years. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. “I felt like I was flying over a completely different landscape,” he said. Sharma said he had few opportunities to talk to the people he rescued, but their expressions told him how deeply the disaster had affected them. “I can see the pain in their eyes. It’s heartbreaking,” she said. The disaster began with a glacial collapse high in the Himalayas. The August 26 disaster began with a chain of events high in the Himalayas. A glacial collapse sent large amounts of rock, ice and meltwater into the valleys below, causing powerful floods downstream. Scientists studying satellite images said the collapse appears to have involved the failure of bedrock beneath a glacier in the Himalayan region. The rockfall was powerful enough to be recorded as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event. The resulting surge of water and debris entered the rivers flowing through the valleys of Tibet and Nepal, causing them to rise rapidly. The floods swept away homes, buildings, roads and bridges and carried mud and rocks downstream. Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the disaster highlighted the need for action to combat climate change. “This incident has indicated that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are increasing with climate change,” Shah said in a social media post on Monday night. “Therefore, this region must be alert and at the same time, it is time for us to strongly raise the issue of climate change disasters before the international community.”___ Saaliq reported from New Delhi. Associated Press writers E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing, Kanis Leung in Hong Kong and Aijaz Hussain in New Delhi contributed to this report.
