The death toll from the flooding in and around Rasuwa, near Nepal’s border with China, has risen to 95. Search and rescue efforts are continuing in the area, where settlements around the Bhotekoshi River have been damaged.
Officials said a total of 384 people, 93 of them Nepali, could not be reached. Those missing include 32 security personnel, 60 people working on the newly completed hydroelectric project and 15 employees of the Timure customs office. While adverse weather conditions are disrupting operations conducted by helicopter, Nepalese authorities are investigating whether the flooding may have been caused by the overflow of a nearby glacial lake.
Why it matters
The fact that security personnel, hydroelectric project workers and customs staff are among those missing shows that the disaster affected public officials and infrastructure workers in the area as well as settlements. The number of people who cannot be reached being much higher than the death toll indicates that the current toll will not be finalized before search and rescue efforts are completed. The disruption of helicopter operations by adverse weather conditions is one of the main problems making it difficult to reach those missing. Although the possibility that the flooding was caused by the overflow of a glacial lake is being investigated, no definitive conclusion has yet been reached about the cause. While the consistent reporting of the death and missing-person figures by different sources supports the reliability of the current picture, the figures may change because operations are still under way.