A view of an area affected by flash floods in Nuwakot district, Nepal, on Wednesday
Image: Xinhua via IANS
The number of South Africans missing in Nepal's flash floods has risen to six, the country's tourism board said, as the death toll on both sides of the Nepal-Tibet border climbed past 165.
The board had earlier listed four.
A glacier collapse in Tibet on Wednesday sent a wall of water and debris through Rasuwa district on Nepal's northern border, wiping out villages, roads and bridges.
Trekking routes near Syabrubesi, the gateway for pilgrims travelling to Mount Kailash, were cut off.
Nepal police reported at least 165 people dead and 826 missing.
The tourism board put the number of missing foreigners at 517.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said the daughter of a missing South African couple had asked the organisation for help, and that a tour operator confirmed a second South African couple was also unaccounted for.
"Helicopter surveillance is the only means of access as all roads have been destroyed.
"Landing is not possible as there is no solid ground given the height of the water level," he said.
The organisation had 11 urban search-and-rescue specialists, four SAPS dog handlers and four dogs on standby.
Its head of search and rescue, Ahmed Bham, was in contact with Nepalese disaster management officials.
"We are in touch with Nepalese authorities.
"The embassy is prepared to process visas immediately, but we await a formal call for international assistance," Sooliman said.
Chinese state media reported at least three people dead and 558 missing in Gyirong County in Tibet, 260 of them foreigners.
The tourism board said its list was preliminary and that being named on it did not mean a person had died.
IOL News
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