Tag: Landslides and Mudslides

China Says 261 Foreigners From 23 Countries Are Missing in Tibet Flood

Media Library

More than 260 foreign citizens from 23 countries are among the hundreds of people missing in Tibet after last week’s devastating flood, the Chinese authorities said on Sunday, offering their most detailed accounting yet of those caught in the disaster on their side of the border. The largest groups of missing foreigners were 104 Nepalis, 49 Indians, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans and 15 British citizens, according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency. In total, 546 people remained missing. The death toll in the Tibet region of China has reached 16…

China Offers Condolences to Nepal While Emphasizing Disaster Began There

Media Library

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, extended his condolences to Nepal’s president on Friday over the hundreds of deaths caused by the landslide on the countries’ border and pledged China’s support in Nepal’s aid efforts. “I am confident that the people of both countries will be able to join hands to overcome the disaster and rebuild their homes,” Mr. Xi said in a message to Nepal’s president, Ram Chandra Paudel, reported by Chinese state media. The message, his first addressed to Nepal’s government since the disaster on Wednesday, noted that the countries…

Disaster Experts Say Nepal Glacier Collapse Was Difficult to Predict

Media Library

It was a wall of water and mud traveling at such speed that it engulfed buildings in seconds. In the wake of the Nepal flood disaster, questions were being asked about whether the deadly torrent could have been predicted or detected quicker to give communities downstream more time to evacuate. Geologists say they believe the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet were set off by a dual high-altitude landslide and glacial avalanche that unleashed huge volumes of water. Disaster experts say such events are difficult to forecast. Most monitoring and…

Landslide in Southern China Buries Dozens and Sends Hundreds Fleeing

Media Library

A landslide in southwestern China’s Yunnan Province on Monday left at least two people dead and another 45 people buried, according to Chinese state media, as a cold wave blanketed much of the country. State media said that more than 500 people had been evacuated. Aerial footage of the disaster site from the state broadcaster, China Central Television, showed a dark, gaping furrow gouged out of a snowy mountainside, which had carved through wide swaths of terraced fields and into a cluster of low houses. The landslide occurred just before…

China Earthquake: In Bitter Cold, a Struggle to Help Survivors

Media Library

Rescue workers strained to plow through eight-foot piles of frozen sludge, which blocked the entrances to destroyed villages. Emergency vehicles struggled to navigate icy, damaged mountain roads. Victims with serious injuries were rushed to hospitals in cities, as demand for medical care overwhelmed the villages’ limited capacities. In the wake of China’s deadliest earthquake in nearly a decade, emergency workers raced to find survivors and distribute aid in Jishishan County in China’s northwest. They were running up against the challenges of rescue work in bitter cold in a remote part…

At Least 2 Dead in Heavy Rains and Flooding in Beijing

Media Library

Fierce rain and flooding pummeled Beijing on Monday, killing at least two people as the downpour triggered landslides and swept away cars on the city’s outskirts after the authorities issued a red alert for what they warned was the heaviest deluge in years. The intense rain since the weekend prompted Beijing to close tourist attractions like the ancient Forbidden City. But the worst effects have been felt in the city’s outer districts, where downpours overwhelmed riverbeds that usually stay dry for much of the year. By Monday afternoon, the Beijing…