At Least 63 Americans Missing In Nepal-Tibet Floods

The disaster struck around 8:40 a.m. local time Wednesday when an enormous torrent of water, mud, rocks and other debris surged through northern Nepal near its border with China’s Tibet region, overwhelming communities along the Trishuli River and destroying buildings, bridges and roadways in its path.

Officials initially believed seismic activity may have triggered the disaster, but subsequent analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey determined that the seismic signal was generated by a massive glacial collapse and debris flow rather than a conventional earthquake.

The scale of the devastation has become clearer by the hour, with more than 350 people reported dead across the broader disaster zone by Thursday while more than 1,000 remained missing in Nepal and China.

Nepalese authorities reported hundreds of people still unaccounted for, including local residents, members of the country’s security forces and a staggering number of tourists who had traveled to the spectacular Himalayan region before disaster struck.

Among the foreign tourists reported out of contact in Nepal were 177 Indian nationals, 63 Americans, 53 Ukrainians, 34 Australians, 33 British citizens and 25 Canadians, along with smaller numbers of travelers from Germany, Singapore, South Africa and numerous other countries.

Across the border in Tibet, Chinese state media reported another 558 people missing in Gyirong County, including approximately 260 foreign nationals, underscoring the enormous geographic reach of the disaster.

Thousands of Nepalese soldiers and police officers have been deployed into the disaster zone, while military helicopters have been conducting repeated flights to search for survivors, evacuate the injured and deliver emergency supplies to communities cut off by washed-out roads and destroyed bridges.

The Nepali Army said its aircraft evacuated 125 people, including 20 foreign nationals, from the Timure and Mailung areas Thursday morning as rescuers continued pushing deeper into the hardest-hit territory.