The floods have caused widespread destruction across the region, with homes, roads and other infrastructure damaged or swept away
By Moses Okorie
At least 34 people have died and more than 2,400 others remain missing in Nepal following devastating flash floods that swept through parts of the country on Wednesday, according to local officials.
The disaster has triggered extensive rescue and recovery operations, with emergency teams working to reach affected communities and locate survivors along the Nepal-Tibet border.
Nepal’s tourism authorities said 320 foreign nationals are among those reported missing, raising concerns about the fate of tourists and other foreign visitors caught in the floods.
Across the border in Tibet, Chinese state media reported that the official death toll had reached 16, while 546 people were still missing.
Rescue teams have continued operations in difficult conditions, as flooded roads, damaged infrastructure and the remote mountainous terrain have complicated efforts to access affected areas.
The full scale of the disaster in Tibet has remained difficult to establish because information is more tightly controlled by Chinese authorities. This has limited independent assessments of casualties and damage in the affected areas.
Authorities have also been monitoring a lake formed by floodwaters, amid earlier concerns that rising water levels could cause further flooding if the lake overflowed.
Chinese officials have now reported that water levels in the newly formed lake are receding, easing fears of an additional major flood threat downstream.
The floods have caused widespread destruction across the region, with homes, roads and other infrastructure damaged or swept away.
Emergency agencies in Nepal and China are expected to continue search-and-rescue operations as authorities work to establish the final death toll and account for thousands of missing people.
The disaster is among the most severe flooding incidents to hit the region in recent years, highlighting the vulnerability of communities living along the mountainous Nepal-Tibet border to sudden and destructive flash floods.