Worried relatives gathered at a hospital in Kathmandu on Thursday, searching for information about family members missing after devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border left at least 165 people dead.
Among those searching was Subash Khatani, who was trying to locate his elder brother, Ram Sharan Rasaili, one of hundreds of people still unaccounted for following the disaster.
Khatani told AFP at the government-run Bir Hospital that his brother was among those reported missing in Rasuwa, prompting the family to begin searching hospitals and official centres for information.
The disaster struck on Wednesday when a huge surge of water and mud swept through communities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers.
Nepali police said they had recovered 162 bodies, while fatalities were recorded across seven districts as floodwaters travelled more than 160 kilometres south towards Chitwan, close to the Indian border.
The exact cause was initially unclear. However, the United States Geological Survey attributed the disaster to a glacial collapse that triggered seismic activity and caused what it described as catastrophic downstream effects in Nepal and Tibet.
Another relative, 52-year-old Chitra Bahadur Nepali, was searching for his nephew, Yubraj Sewak, a driver who had been travelling towards Rasuwa before communication was lost.
Nepali said Sewak had been in contact with his sister until around 8:00 am on Wednesday, but the family has heard nothing from him since the flooding.
He said his nephew’s name had not appeared on any of the missing-person lists they had checked and that another family member was also unaccounted for.
As rescue teams continued searching for survivors in the affected districts, relatives moved between hospitals and police helpdesks in an effort to locate missing loved ones.
Bir Hospital said it would provide free treatment to all victims and was fully prepared to handle the expected increase in patients, according to local media reports.
Nepal’s disaster management authorities said 823 people remained out of contact, including 579 tourists from Nepal and other countries.
Across the border in Tibet, Chinese state media reported that three people had died in the mudslide disaster, while 558 others, including 260 foreigners, were still missing.
