Four South Africans among missing tourists following Nepal floods

Four South Africans are among hundreds of tourists who remain unaccounted for after flash floods hit the Nepal-Tibet border. 31 people have died, and authorities say the death toll could rise further.

Initial reports suggest a landslide may have trigged the floods, but there is no official confirmation.

Hundreds are missing after flash floods hit Nepal’s Rasuwa district.

It’s a mountainous northern district that borders Tibet and is a popular tourist destination.

The Nepal Tourism Board has confirmed that more than 300 travellers are missing – four are South African nationals.

Videos posted online by police teams show a huge rush of water coming towards multi-storeyed buildings along a river, the floodwaters sweeping away a bridge and destroying houses in just a few minutes.

The armed forces and paramilitary troops are now involved in rescue operations, and helicopters are being used to pull people to safety. In some of the worst hit areas, the water levels are so high that helicopters have been unable to land there.

At least 384 travellers are missing after torrential floods swept through Nepal’s Himalayan region near the Tibet border.

The country’s tourism board says 291 of those missing are foreign nationals, including 105 Indians.

It ​is suspected that an earthquake struck the region and triggered an ⁠ice-rock avalanche on the Lhende Khola river in Nepal, causing the floods.

The river ​runs through both Nepal and Tibet.

What triggered the flood?

The German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) said there was a 4.4 magnitude quake approximately seven minutes before the time shown on security footage, which captured people fleeing the border.

Nepal’s foreign minister Shishir Khanal told the country’s parliament that initial reports suggested an earthquake in the area could have triggered an avalanche and caused the floods, local media reported.

China’s official Xinhua news agency said the mudslide occurred on the Nepali side and hit the Gyirong port in Shigatse City, Tibet, cutting roads, communications and power links in the Shigatse region near the border.

Xinhua did not elaborate further.

A wall of mud and rock appeared to collapse ​into a river on the Himalayan border of Nepal and China’s Tibet on Wednesday.

In a still-unfolding disaster, verified videos showed dozens of people swept away at the border, with authorities on both sides fearing far higher casualties and massive destruction.

Houses, roads and power projects were swept away in Nepal, while officials in Tibet said they feared “major casualties” with some missing in the county of Gyirong after a mudslide hit a border land crossing. – additional reporting by Reuters