AMMAN — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday expressed condolences to the government and people of Nepal over the victims of the devastating floods that swept the Himalayan nation.

 

The ministry’s spokesperson Fouad Majali expressed Jordan’s solidarity with Nepal and its sympathies to the families of the victims.

 

Hundreds of tourists in Nepal, many of them foreigners, have gone missing in the Himalayan nation's devastating flash floods on Wednesday, which have killed at least 95 people, according to AFP.

 

Hours after the disaster tore through the border region with Tibet, some 403 visitors, including 341 foreign nationals, were still unaccounted for, according to the ministry of culture, tourism and civil aviation, AFP said.

 

In its second situation update posted on X, the Nepal Tourism Board gave a tally of 384 missing travellers, 291 of them non-Nepalis. Many of the foreign tourists' nationalities were yet to be confirmed.

 

Nestled in the Himalayas, Nepal is a milestone tourist destination for hikers and climbers from around the world, lured by the challenge of scaling some of the world's highest peaks, Mount Everest among them.

 

Images shared by Nepali police showed floodwater surging through a river, sweeping away houses in its path, while AFP images depicted the top floor of a house sticking out from muddy soil.

 

“So far, eight bodies have been found. Rescue operations are underway,” Nepal police spokesman Abi Narayan Kafle told AFP.

 

Videos shared by Nepal police and others on social media showed torrents of muddy water crashing through mountain valleys in the Himalayan district bordering China.

 

“I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people,” Suman Chalize, a 34-year-old teacher, told AFP in Nuwakot district.

 

“It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.”

 

The police spokesman told AFP earlier that authorities did not know the extent of the damage but said they had “alerted people who are staying near the riverside to relocate.”

 

The Nepal Army said it had deployed helicopters and disaster response personnel to the affected area.

 

The Nepal Electricity Authority said about 430 megawatts of production capacity, including from hydropower and solar facilities, has been damaged.

 

“The disaster has damaged the production, transmission and distribution facilities of the Authority... resulting in disruption of electricity supply,” it said.

 

Sarthak Shrestha, a remote sensing and geo information analyst at the Katmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), said a preliminary assessment showed “no anomalies” from China’s side of the border.

 

“We believe a rock-ice avalanche occurred in Nepal, blocking the Lhende river and causing the cascading flood event,” he told AFP.

 

Mudslide risk

 

Several highways were also closed, Nepali authorities said.

 

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday that “a mudslide disaster on the Nepalese side resulted in major casualties and missing people at the Gyirong Port” in Tibet.

 

State news agency Xinhua said Chinese President Xi Jinping had urged “all-out” rescue operations.

 

Xi said that “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people … quickly treat injured people and minimize casualties to the greatest extent possible,” according to CCTV.

 

In July last year, 17 people went missing after a mudslide near the Gyirong Port, Xinhua reported at the time.

 

Monsoon rains from June to September regularly trigger deadly floods and landslides across South Asia.

 

Scientists say climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the region.

 

Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at ICIMOD, said a second flood may be imminent.

 

“With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur,” he told AFP.