KATHMANDU
\nNepal resumed search and rescue \u200bwork on Saturday after a brief weather-related suspension as authorities searched for nearly 3,000 missing people following a devastating flood that killed hundreds and tore through a region bordering \u200cTibet.
\nThe impoverished Himalayan nation of 30 million people called for specialist foreign assistance and its finance minister told Reuters it would also need about $4 billion to $5 billion to rebuild after the disaster.
\nTriggered by a glacier collapse, a torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris hurtled through mountain river systems on Wednesday, killing at least 669 people in Nepal and seven in China\u2019s Tibet and sweeping away buildings, bridges and power stations.
\nNearly 3,000 people remain missing, including about 2,426 in Nepal and 554 in \u200bTibet\u2019s Gyirong County, among them at least 540 foreign nationals, many of them Hindu pilgrims from India.<\/p>\n
Decomposed, unrecognisable bodies to be buried
\nSearch and rescue operations were temporarily halted because of rain and \u200bfog but resumed later in the afternoon, a police officer in hard-hit Rasuwa district said.
\n\u201cHelicopters are flying and the operation resumed following some improvement in weather,\u201d \u2060he said, on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
\nAuthorities had also suspended rescue work on Friday when a lake, formed across the Nepal-China border after the flood, began \u200boverflowing into Nepal\u2019s Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers.
\nBy Saturday, the risk had eased and parts of the lake bed were visible, Chinese authorities and state broadcaster CCTV said. Satellite images suggested water was slowly draining from \u200bthe lake, gradually reducing its size, CCTV reported.
\nThe lake is one of two upstream of the flood zone being monitored by Nepal. Flood risks will persist until both have fully drained, an official warned.
\nThree days after the disaster, authorities said some bodies being recovered had decomposed beyond recognition. They would be buried after legal formalities because of health risks and a fear of disease outbreaks.
\n\u201cDNA samples will be collected, and the bodies will be buried in an open space,\u201d the Chitwan \u200bdistrict administration said in a notice.<\/p>\n
Families search for the missing
\nIn Kathmandu, families of missing people gathered outside Maharajgunj Medical Campus, where some bodies had been taken. Many tried to identify relatives from photographs of \u200bthe bodies displayed on gates and boundary walls.
\nIn Malaysia, families of 91 citizens listed as \u201cuncontactable\u201d across Tibet and Nepal also waited for news.
\nManivannan Rethinam, a representative for some of them, urged the foreign ministry to establish a communication \u200cchannel for faster updates, saying the lack of information was \u201cprofoundly painful\u201d for relatives awaiting news.
\nMalaysia\u2019s foreign ministry said search and rescue and verification efforts were continuing.
\nFor survivors, the ordeal is far from over as they face the task of rebuilding their lives.
\nSaraswati Ghale, 43, said her home was destroyed in the flood. She recalled scrambling uphill as the water struck, shaking the ground \u201clike there was an earthquake\u201d.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t have anything (left) … I am saved but who knows how things will pan out,\u201d she said.
\nNepal\u2019s Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle told Reuters the government\u2019s initial estimate was that rebuilding would cost between $4 billion and $5 billion.
\n\u201cThis is just an estimate. Loss and \u200bdamage is being assessed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Technical aid heads to Nepal
\nNepal\u2019s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the country did not need help with search and rescue but required specialist assistance to rescue people trapped in tunnels, restore transport and communication lines where bridges had been destroyed, identify bodies, conduct DNA testing and store bodies for longer periods.
\n\u201cWe have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where \u200bwe don\u2019t have enough expertise and technical know-how,\u201d he told Reuters late on Friday.
\nA team of Indian tunnel experts arrived in Nepal on Saturday, \u200bhe said, while China\u2019s Xinhua news agency reported Beijing had dispatched five tunnel experts to support rescue efforts, with four more due to join them.
\nIndia has already sent three flights carrying 60 tons of relief supplies, including blankets, medicines, and food.
\nIt has also offered disaster-response personnel, prefabricated bridges and technical teams to help restore connectivity, the foreign ministry said.
\nChinese authorities are also racing to trace more than 500 people still missing after the flood.
\nRescuers reached the worst-hit Gyirong border crossing complex on Friday, \u200busing ropes to navigate forests and cliffs after roads leading to the site were destroyed.
\nIn bleak, rainy conditions on Saturday morning, \u200bmore than 50 rescue workers combed through the rubble of boulders and mud, looking for signs of life and calling out for survivors, CCTV reported.
\nSurveillance footage from the crossing showed torrents of water and debris engulfing buildings when the flood hit, as people \u200btried to flee.
\nReporting by Gopal Sharma, Sahana Bajracharya, Saurabh Sharma, Navesh Chitrakar, Liz Lee, Yukun Zhang, Leong Huey Mun. Writing by Sakshi Dayal and YP Rajesh; Editing by William Mallard, Gareth Jones and Mark Potter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KATHMANDU Nepal resumed search and rescue \u200bwork on Saturday after a brief weather-related suspension as authorities searched for nearly 3,000 missing people following a devastating flood that killed hundreds and tore through a region bordering \u200cTibet. The impoverished Himalayan nation of 30 million people called for specialist foreign assistance and its finance minister told Reuters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n