Glacial and mountain collapse kills at least 1,384 people across Nepal and Tibet
\n kathmandu
\nNepali rescuers faced challenging conditions on Sunday as search operations after catastrophic floods entered a 12th day, buoyed by the extraordinary rescues of four survivors.
\nThe glacial and mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed at least 1,384 people and left more than 5,500 missing across the two countries.
\nRescuers found two more people alive on Saturday, joining two saved the day before in what have been described as miraculous tales of survival.
\nThree of those have been found in hydropower tunnels where the government initially said it believed more than 100 workers could be alive.
\n\u201cSearch and rescue is going on at the tunnels despite geography, adverse weather and lack of connectivity,\u201d Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told AFP.
\nRescue workers were experiencing \u201cmultiple challenges\u201d, he said.
\nThe wall of icy water and debris tore through mountain districts on August 26, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure.
\nOn Saturday, rescuers pulled a Chinese man alive from deep inside a hydropower tunnel, and a 64-year-old Nepali woman, Chandrika Shrestha, from her mud-covered home.
\nPrime Minister Balendra Shah said the latter rescue had \u201cgiven hope to the entire nation\u201d.
\nA day earlier, two Nepali hydropower workers were rescued at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, where searches continue alongside multiple other sites, with at least 12 hydropower projects affected.
\nOther examples of remarkable fortitude have emerged from Nepal, including Rajendra Dawadi, a school principal who quickly ordered an evacuation as the torrent approached, saving hundreds of students\u2019 lives.
\n\u201cIf the information was wrong, we would lose a day of schooling,\u201d he told AFP.
\n\u201cBut if it was true, we were going to lose our lives.\u201d
\nTolls rise in China
\nBiraj Bhakta Shrestha said work was continuing to restore electricity in several areas.
\n\u201cPlaces that have unreachable, we\u2019ve tried to restore power with solar,\u201d he told AFP.
\nForeign Minister Shisir Khanal has called the disaster a \u201cHimalayan tsunami\u201d and has warned reconstruction costs could run into the billions of dollars.
\nThe United Nations has said the magnitude of the destruction makes delivering aid an immense challenge, and has launched a $50 million appeal to help more than 84,000 people.
\nWith mortuaries overflowing, Nepal has buried hundreds of bodies in mass graves, after taking DNA samples for future identification, according to the police.
\nOnly around 100 bodies have been identified and handed over to families.
\nNepal will hold a national day of mourning on Monday, the 13th day since the disaster, in line with a traditional period of mourning in Hindu rituals.
\nWhile the exact cause of the glacial collapse is unclear, climate change is accelerating glacial melting worldwide, increasing the risk of such disasters.
\nIn Nepal, rescuers have retrieved 1,341 bodies, while around 4,996 people remain missing, according to the disaster agency.
\nThe death toll from the disaster in Tibet has risen from 31 to 43, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.
\nA further 519 people are missing, it said.
\nThe combined toll is 1,384 dead and more than 5,500 missing, including around 800 foreigners, among them tourists and pilgrims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Glacial and mountain collapse kills at least 1,384 people across Nepal and Tibet kathmandu Nepali rescuers faced challenging conditions on Sunday as search operations after catastrophic floods entered a 12th day, buoyed by the extraordinary rescues of four survivors. The glacial and mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border killed at least 1,384 people and left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n