At least eight people have been killed and more than 20 are missing in Nepal following a flood which destroyed a bridge. On Tuesday, the Bhote Koshi River flooded which washed away the “Friendship Bridge” linking China and Nepal. Local authorities have now recovered eight bodies, Nepal Police spokesperson Binod Ghimire told Reuters.
57 people have been rescued from the disaster as search and rescue operations continue to find the missing individuals. The fatal flooding also swept away several houses in the area, as well as numerous trucks and cars which were parked near the country’s border. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said that those swept away included 12 Nepalis and six Chinese nationals.
According to China’s new agency, 11 people are also missing on the Chinese side of the border, who were working at the Inland Container Depot located about 80km north of Kathmandu, Arjun Paudel, a senior administrative official in Rasuwa district, told Reuters.
Officials have said that trade between the two countries was disrupted due to the destruction of the bridge.
The cause of the flood may have been due to the overflowing glacial lake in Tibet, weather forecasting experts have said, which follows torrential rainfall in the area.
Heavy rainfall and flash floods have caused a plethora of destruction in Nepal, with a tropical storm predicted to descend on the Asian country this week.
Officials continue to assess the damage and exact cause of the disaster, as 95 rescuers scour the area for those who are still missing.
Monsoon season – June to September – often causes severe flooding in Asia. At least 79 people have been killed in Pakistan due to floods and weather related accidents, such as landlines, since June 26.
The country’s National Disaster Management Authority said on Tuesday that it had issued fresh alerts for flash flooding and glacial lake outbursts in the northern and northwestern provinces of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
