Nepal floods leave at least 72 dead, hundreds missing after suspected ice avalanche

The disaster has also left hundreds of tourists unaccounted for, with Nepal's tourism authorities reporting that 384 visitors, including 291 foreign nationals, were missing.

Suspected ice avalanche triggered floods

The cause of the sudden flooding remained under investigation. Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the government had received preliminary information about an avalanche in the affected area.

Scientists studying the disaster believe an ice avalanche may have triggered the catastrophic flooding.

Simon Cook, a glaciologist at the University of Dundee, told The New York Times that an initial analysis of satellite imagery indicated that a large chunk of ice had broken away from a high-altitude glacier and plunged thousands of feet toward Nepal's Bhotekoshi River.

The impact may have generated enormous amounts of floodwater, Cook said, as the falling ice released vast amounts of energy and was pulverised.

“There was no rain in Nepal, so we were not expecting anything like this,” Narendra Pariyar, chief district officer of Rasuwa, told The New York Times.

Indian tourists among hundreds missing

Nepal's tourism board said 384 tourists had been reported missing, including 105 Indian nationals, around a dozen Britons and at least three Americans.

Visitors from Australia, the Netherlands, Malaysia and South Africa were also among those unaccounted for.

Authorities have not yet determined the full number of people missing or the scale of the destruction.

Nepal Police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle said personnel at four police posts and customs officials stationed at a land border crossing with China were also unaccounted for.

China border crossing overwhelmed

The flooding also caused major destruction at the Gyirong port of entry in Tibet, a key crossing between China and Nepal.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported “significant” casualties at the port.

Video footage verified by The New York Times showed people fleeing along a road as torrents of water and thick clouds swept through the area, engulfing buildings and parking lots.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered local authorities to make every effort to locate and rescue missing people.

Nepal steps up rescue operations

Nepali security forces, led by the army, have launched a major rescue operation. At least 114 people have been airlifted to safety, while the army has deployed 12 helicopters to the affected region.

A temporary hospital has also been established in the flood zone, with at least 25 seriously injured people evacuated to Kathmandu for treatment.

Bridges, schools and hydropower facilities were among the infrastructure reported to have been swept away as floodwaters surged downstream.

Government seeks help from India, China

The scale of the disaster has added to the challenges facing Nepal's newly elected government and its 36-year-old Prime Minister Balendra Shah.

Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel said Nepal had sought assistance from both India and China to bolster rescue and relief efforts as authorities struggled to reach affected communities and assess the devastation.