KATHMANDU: Nepal has evacuated 3,253 people by helicopter from areas devastated by severe flooding, as rescue teams continue searching for survivors and missing persons, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said Friday.
Those rescued include injured residents and flood survivors who were transported to Kathmandu and other safer locations. Authorities are also searching for people reported missing in the disaster, including foreign nationals who were in Nepal for trekking and pilgrimage.
The rescue operation has now expanded to the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project near Nepal’s border with China. A team of the Nepali Army was sent to the site on Friday after reports emerged that people could be trapped inside a tunnel.
Nepali Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescue personnel were facing difficult conditions because mud and debris had covered the tunnel’s possible entry and exit points.
“Our first priority is rescuing the stranded people,” Basnet said, while describing the search as a challenging operation.
Buildings, bridges swept away
The scale of the destruction has become increasingly clear through videos and accounts from survivors. Torrents of floodwater swept through settlements, damaging or destroying buildings, bridges and vehicles as residents fled to higher ground.
Large areas have been left covered in thick layers of brown mud and debris, with concrete structures overturned and roads buried beneath the sediment.
Survivor recalls terrifying moments
Among those who survived the disaster is customs officer Karbir Gaire, who was in Timure, a settlement close to the Nepal-China border.
Gaire said he arrived at his office at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday and was working at his computer when he felt the ground shake.
Moments later, he saw what appeared to be a dark mass moving rapidly toward the settlement. He and others immediately ran from the building and scrambled uphill.
Gaire believes the few seconds they had to react may have saved their lives.
However, the disaster claimed contact with many of his colleagues. According to Gaire, 15 of his co-workers remain missing.
Recalling the devastation, he compared the scene to something from a disaster film and said the force of the water was far beyond what he would normally describe as a flood.
Timure transformed by disaster
Before the disaster, Timure was a busy border settlement with government offices, hotels, restaurants and cafes, banks, schools, tea shops and residential buildings. More than 1,500 people were estimated to live in the area.
The disaster has now left much of the settlement buried under mud and debris.
Rescue agencies are continuing evacuation and search operations across affected areas, while teams work to reach locations cut off by damaged roads, bridges and landslides. Authorities remain particularly focused on locating missing people and reaching those who may still be trapped in isolated or inaccessible areas.