Hope was fading last night for 33 Britons, among them a schoolgirl, who remain missing after catastrophic floods tore through Nepal, as rescue teams struggled against punishing conditions in a desperate search for survivors.
Thousands are feared to have died after a violent surge of mud, boulders and icy water thundered through the Rasuwa valley, smashing concrete structures and sweeping away whole villages in scenes witnesses described as apocalyptic.
As floodwaters began to recede, harrowing images showed villagers clawing their way out of churning fields of debris and sifting through shattered homes in search of food, clothing and anything that might help them survive.
Other footage, considered too distressing to publish, reportedly shows body parts being recovered from riverbanks, with victims torn apart by the immense force of the torrent.
Scientists have suggested the disaster may have been triggered when a 2,000ft section of ice broke from a glacier after a landslide disturbed the mountainside, unleashing the deadly wall of water and debris.
By last night, rescue workers said 157 bodies had been recovered from the water and rubble, though officials warned the confirmed death toll was likely to rise sharply.
One emergency responder said teams faced delays of several hours reaching the worst-hit communities because roads were buried beneath sediment up to five feet deep.
More than 300 of those still unaccounted for are believed to be tourists, many drawn to the region for its renowned trekking routes and religious pilgrimage sites.
A village that was half washed away by the torrent of water
Military personnel rescue a man coated in mud from the floodwater
The ferocious floods carved a wide scar down the course of the Trishulu River
Police officers carry an elderly lady to safety on Wednesday afternoon
Survivors pushing through debris-strewn water to salvage essentials
Families of Brits who were in the area but are now uncontactable have told Our News Outlet of their anguished wait for information.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed to do ‘everything we can’ to support Britons caught up in the nightmare.
Also among the missing were 133 Indians, 53 Ukrainians, 34 Australians, 24 Canadians and eight South Koreans.
A 13-year-old British girl and her parents are believed to have been among a tour party of 17 trekkers crossing the Nepal-China border at precisely the moment disaster struck.
One neighbour told the Mail last night: ‘They’re a wonderful family. We’re devastated by this news and are praying that they’ll be OK.’
Britons aged 13 to 65 who were on the nine-day trek to Mount Kailash – a sacred site for Hindus and Buddhists.
Ram Kumar Adhikari, who runs Alpine Eco Trek, which organised the tour, said the group was last heard from at the Gyirong border crossing at 8.40am Nepal time.
Some 15 minutes later, a wave of mud and rubble swept down the valley and engulfed the crossing.
Mala Patel, 60, from Coventry, who is uncontactable after going on an organised religious trip to the Nepal-Tibet border
Residents gaze over buildings submerged in mud as the sun rises on Thursday morning
A local trudges through deep sludge in Devighat, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, on Thursday morning
Bridges were destroyed and trees uprooted, causing damage that will take years to undo
A woman grieves outside a hospital in Trishuli Bazar, where hundreds are feared to have died
Mr Kumar Adhikari said: ‘We had been receiving regular updates on the group’s progress. The group leader and guide were in constant contact and told us that the team had reached the Chinese immigration office at 7am.
‘Our group leader and guide remained online until 8.40am, so we assumed they had crossed immigration. There is no internet access on the Chinese side, so we had no reason to be immediately concerned.
‘Then we received news of the massive flood. You can see [in the video] people running in the footage, and some of them could be members of our group.
‘I feel so sad. We are just thinking about what to do next. We are in pain at the moment, deep pain.’
Four of his Nepalese tour guides, aged 35, 38, 45 and 29, are among the missing. A rescuer interviewed by China’s state broadcaster said they had been trying to make contact with the Gyirong border crossing but ‘so far there haven’t been any results’.
Mala Patel, 60, and Bipin Patel, 66, from Coventry, were on an organised pilgrimage in the area when the disaster struck.
Their son Anant Patel, 29, told the Mail this morning they were due to cross the border into Tibet yesterday to visit Mount Kailash, but have been uncontactable since the flood.
He said: ‘I haven’t been told anything, but I’ve obviously seen what’s happened on the news.
CCTV footage showed the immense wall of water demolishing buildings at the Nepal-China border in Gyirong
A bridge can just be made out amid the cascading brown water before it was washed away
Satellite images show the valley before a flash flood (top) and after it (bottom)
‘I wasn’t concerned about them in any way, but you don’t expect something like a natural disaster to happen.
‘I’ve tried ringing them and sent messages, but I’ve heard nothing back. They are uncontactable so I’m very worried.
‘I’ve logged their details with the Foreign Office and I’m waiting to hear back.’
Mala and Bipin live in a smart detached house in the leafy Stivichall area of Coventry.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told the Mail: ‘They are a lovely couple, I’ve known them for years.
‘Mala and Bipin work in the education and tutoring sector. They have an office in the house which they use daily. They are both Coventry City season ticket holders.
‘It’s a tight-knit community around here and everyone looks out for each other, so we’re all deeply concerned and just hoping for the best.’
The flood was triggered near the border of Tibet, before a 30ft wall of freezing water mixed with rubble stormed down the path of the Trishulu river. Witnesses thought that they were seeing explosions caused by a military invasion.
The valley floor was decimated by the torrent and left a barren, muddy plain
Vehicles were picked up and shoved down stream along with whole buildings
More than 400 people were missing as of Wednesday night, but that number was expected to climb
Experts said the ‘snout’ of an entire glacier in the snow-capped Himalayas appears to have dislodged, sending iceberg-sized chunks cascading down to block the Lhende river, a tributary of the Trishuli.
Dr Daniel Shugar, an earth scientist and professor at the University of Calgary, told the New York Times: ‘The bottom looks like a bomb exploded – it’s just deposits from the broken-up glacier.’
Simon Cook, a glaciologist at the University of Dundee, said: ‘This is a big chunk of ice that is stored at high elevation in the mountain.
When it broke off, he explained, the force ‘pulverised’ the ice into water, creating a fast-flowing torrent.
Footage from the moment of impact yesterday morning showed an astonishing level of destruction.
Terrifying CCTV video released by Chinese officials showed people running for their lives and lorries being knocked over and smashed to pieces.
Whole villages were washed away, stunned Nepalese officials said, but the full horror will not be known for days.
Terrified families scrambled up the region’s mountainous terrain to flee the onslaught of mud.
Roads, hydropower stations and bridges were all destroyed. In one harrowing video, filmed on a school bus, children screamed as their driver tried to get them away.
The Nepal army dispatched 14 helicopters and disaster response teams but the waters made it difficult for them to land close to the worst hit areas.
Local Kalpana Malla told the BBC: ‘My family members were swept away by the flood in front of my eyes. My father, my mother my sister and her kids were swept away. There was no chance at all.’
Suman Chalise, a 34-year-old teacher, said: ‘I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people. It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.’
In hard-hit Nuwakot district, upper floors of buildings, slathered in mud, were all that could be seen after the torrent surged by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and stunned survivors were left caked in mud.
A woman consoles a relative as they wait for news of family members missing after the flood
A boy puts his hands to his head as he looks out over devastation wrought by the flood
Shreedhar Neupane, a local journalist, said: ‘It was sheer panic. I saw thick, muddy slush flowing in a river where clean water once ran. I saw people swept away. I saw houses collapse and wash away. I saw strong bridges carried off by the water.’
Raju Bhadel, 56, said: ‘I got a call from my brother-in-law. They were crying and said their entire house had been swept away.’
Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, said: ‘My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She’s gone.’
‘There is devastation everywhere we look,’ said Tula Bahadur in Rasuwa. ‘Settlements next to the river have been completely swept away. Five of my relatives are missing.’
Nepal’s prime minister Balendra Shah vowed ‘all the means and resources’ of the nation would be used to help victims.
In Tibet, on the Chinese side of the border, military commander Chen Xi said ‘various loaders and excavators are being used to clear a path’ but he warned: ‘The mountain slopes around us could collapse at any time because the road runs along steep cliffs and there may also be a risk of another mudslide.’
The Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said the ‘exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave’ meant that in just moments the level of the Trishuli River rose by an incredible nine metres (27ft).
Before-and-after satellite imagery shows lush green mountainsides buried under brown debris and sediment.
Last night there were fears of a second flood. Alerts were issued in the populous northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which border Nepal.
Here, Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to do ‘everything we can’ to support British nationals.
He said: ‘These scenes emerging are devastating. My thoughts are with all those affected, including the families and loved ones of British nationals missing in this tragedy.’
