Nepal-Tibet disaster death toll reaches 584 with 2,482 missing; India says 320 nationals uncontactable in Nepal.
NEW DELHI: At least 584 people were dead and 2,482 missing across Nepal and Tibet by Friday evening after the Bhote Koshi-Trishuli disaster, with Nepal accounting for 579 deaths and 1,924 missing and Tibet reporting five dead and 558 missing. Hours later, another avalanche dumped an estimated 50,000 cubic metres of ice debris. In Nepal, the official missing count nearly doubled within hours to close to 2,000 as authorities added fresh lists from devastated settlements, hydropower projects and tourism groups. The country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said 4,451 people had been rescued. India said 320 of its nationals in Nepal remained uncontactable.
The scale remained fluid, as Nepal Police maintained a higher list of those unaccounted for; tunnel searches continued and large numbers of people remained cut off or out of communication. Rescue teams on both sides of the border were repeatedly forced to reassess and retreat Friday as an unstable barrier lake overflowed into Bhote Koshi river, sent a fresh surge downstream and briefly halting operations. Satellite images later showed an even more worrying development — a second, larger upstream lake was still growing and had no visible outlet.