Glacier Collapse Triggers Disaster; More Than 600 Foreign Pilgrims and Trekkers Missing

More than 1,300 people are missing in Nepal and China after a massive flood swept through the Himalayan region of Nepal along the border with China. In Nepal alone, the number of missing rose by nearly 350 in a single day, and contact has also been lost with nine South Koreans. Foreigners were hit especially hard because the flood struck an area crowded with pilgrims and trekking tourists from around the world.
■ 826 missing in Nepal, including 600 foreigners
On the 27th local time, Nepal police said 826 people were missing after flooding hit Bagmati Province in the north the previous day. The number of missing, which had stood at 484 at one point the day before, rose by about 350 in just one day as reports continued to come in. About 600 of the missing were foreigners from some 28 countries, including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Italy and Ukraine.
Nine South Koreans from Korea South-East Power Co. and Doosan Enerbility, who were at a local hydropower plant construction site, are also missing. A joint government rapid response team made up of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency (NFA) departed for Kathmandu on the same day.
The death toll rose by eight from the previous day to 165. In Jilong County, Xigaze, in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, three people were killed and 558 were reported missing in a landslide. Combined, the missing in Nepal and China now exceed 1,300.
In Nepal, 80 bridges and about 40 kilometers of roads have been damaged, and 83 security personnel, including police officers and soldiers, are also missing, making rescue efforts difficult.
Foreigners were hit particularly hard because the disaster zone lies along a major route for pilgrims and trekkers. The flood came during the peak season for pilgrims heading to Mount Kailash, a sacred mountain in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. According to an earlier tally by Nepal's tourism authorities, at least 133 of the missing were Indians on the pilgrimage route to Mount Kailash. Nepal is currently in the monsoon season, which is not suitable for ordinary Himalayan climbing, but pilgrimage and trekking to Mount Kailash are in high season. The damage appears to have worsened as locals also traveled ahead of a traditional Nepali holiday.
■ It was not an earthquake; the cause was glacier collapse
The cause of the disaster was also reversed within a day. The Nepalese government and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) initially believed the flood was triggered when a magnitude 4.4 earthquake in Tibet caused a glacier to collapse. The Nepalese government pointed to the fact that the flash flood was reported about three minutes after the quake. However, the USGS later corrected that assessment, saying, "After additional analysis of long-period seismic waves and satellite imagery, the seismic energy was actually generated by a landslide," and added, "There was no earthquake."
It is believed that a massive glacier and rocks crashed into a valley, blocked the river, and then burst under the pressure, sending water and debris downstream all at once.
Experts are focusing on the rapid warming taking place in the Himalayas. In the Himalayas, a major water source for about 2 billion people in Asia, the rate at which glaciers are disappearing has more than doubled in the 21st century compared with previous periods.
Chang Chang-gung, who oversees climate and environmental risks at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Kathmandu, warned, "There are still blocked sections upstream of the river on the Nepal-China border, so a second flood could occur."
[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter