Beijing, Aug 27. (dpa/GNA) – The number of people missing in China, after a devastating flash flood in south-western Tibet near the border with Nepal, has risen to 558, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Thursday.
Authorities had put the number of missing at 265 a day earlier. Xinhua also reported that two people had been rescued, while the death toll in China remained at three.
The flash flood struck the border region between Nepal and Tibet’s Gyirong county on Wednesday, causing extensive damage. Nepalese police have so far reported 162 deaths, while hundreds of people remain missing there, including many foreign and Nepalese tourists.
The exact cause of the flash flood remains unclear. Initial speculation suggested a glacial avalanche may have blocked a tributary of the Bhotekoshi river, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The river originates in the Tibetan highlands. The lake formed by the glacial avalanche, may then have burst downstream as a massive flood wave carrying mud, rocks and ice, according to the theory.
Rescue teams in disaster-hit areas of Nepal and China, continued intensive searches for missing people a day after the disaster.
In China, 111 fire service experts arrived at the airport in Tingri in south-western Tibet on Thursday morning before setting off for the disaster zone, Chinese state television reported.
Large amounts of mud were making it difficult for larger vehicles to access the area, state television reported.
GNA