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An avalanche of mud, rock and ice blocked a Himalayan river valley early Wednesday. That caused flooding that has killed more than 95 people in Nepal, a number that's likely to rise. Meanwhile, hundreds remain unaccounted for across Nepal and Tibet. NPR's Diaa Hadid reports.
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DIAA HADID, BYLINE: Footage from the Tibet side of the border with Nepal that was shared on local media showed a massive gush of water sweeping over a port building as people fled. As the water barreled down, residents filmed it sweeping away a bridge and washing away riverside settlements.
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HADID: Officials say hundreds are missing, including dozens of Hindu pilgrims. Many were from India. They were journeying to a sacred Hindu site, Mount Kailash. They included 77 pilgrims who were at an immigration office on the border when water enveloped the area. That's according to a social media post from a prominent spiritual leader known as Sadhguru, who arranged their travel. Experts say the avalanche of rock and ice potentially came from a collapsing glacier. That happened after...
MOHAMMAD FAROOQ AZAM: There was an earthquake this morning so that might have triggered this maybe.
HADID: Mohammad Farooq Azam is an expert on the cryosphere, frozen water systems, at ICIMOD, an environmental advocacy group that focuses on Asia's high mountains. The avalanche blocked a river in a valley before bursting through. The group said the incident happened with exceptional speed and power, with one river rising about 30 feet within 30 minutes. Azam says the flooding was made more severe because it happened during the heavy rains of the monsoon season.
AZAM: Everything is fully saturated already. The rivers are swelling, the surfaces, the soil.
HADID: Arun Bhakta Shrestha, another expert on climate change and the Himalayan cryosphere, said while there had been similar events over the years, this was the worst he could recall. He said there was a trend.
ARUN BHAKTA SHRESTHA: If you look at the whole Hindu Kush Himalaya region, it seems like frequency of those events are getting more and more. The frequency, the types of those hazards are increasing.
HADID: He says the cause is clear.
SHRESTHA: Everything probably, directly or indirectly, is pointing finger towards the global warming.
HADID: And in a year of extremes, this was another. Diaa Hadid, NPR News.
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