SINGAPORE — Singapore has sent a crisis response team to Nepal as families wait desperately for news of Singaporeans caught in one of the deadliest Himalayan disasters in years — but rescuers are now confronting a new danger that could make an already devastating situation even worse.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Singapore High Commission in New Delhi had deployed a Crisis Response Team to Nepal to provide consular assistance. Singapore’s missions in New Delhi and Beijing are also working with Nepali and Chinese authorities, while MFA remains in contact with families of affected Singaporeans.
The deployment follows catastrophic flash floods that tore through the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday, Aug 26, sending an enormous surge of ice, rock, mud and water through mountain valleys, communities and a key border crossing.
And two days after the initial disaster, the emergency is far from over.
Singaporeans caught in the disaster
Nepal’s Tourism Board initially reported on Thursday that nine Singaporeans were among those missing in Rasuwa district, the area closest to the Nepal-China border and one of the hardest-hit regions. CNA and The Straits Times continued to cite that figure in reports updated into Friday.
However, the numbers remain fluid. An Associated Press update published Friday morning, citing the Nepal Tourism Board, listed eight Singaporeans as missing. Nepalese authorities have warned that information is still being verified across travel operators, security agencies, hospitals and local authorities. For that reason, the safest description at this stage is that multiple Singaporeans remain unaccounted for, rather than treating either figure as final.
At least two of the Singaporeans were travelling with a 47-member group organised by Himalayan Glacier. That group included 15 Australians, 10 Canadians, nine Nepalese, eight Americans, two Britons, two Singaporeans and a Russian-American dual national. Seven Nepali guides were also reported missing.
CNA reported that the two Singaporeans in that group are a couple aged 49 and 53. Most members of the tour were believed to have been staying near the border, and communication with the group was lost after mobile and other communication networks were disrupted.
Another two Singaporeans were travelling with a separate group organised by Himalayan Trekkers. The company told CNA it lost contact with its group after a Nepali guide sent a message at around 8.34am local time on Wednesday saying they were crossing the border. Minutes later, the flood reportedly reached the border-crossing area.
A helicopter later flew over the area, but the tour company said large sections appeared buried beneath sand and mud and much of the infrastructure had disappeared, making it extremely difficult to identify where members of the group might be.
What actually caused the Nepal-Tibet disaster?
Early reports suggested that an earthquake may have triggered the catastrophe. Scientists now have a clearer — and more alarming — picture.
Satellite imagery reviewed by scientists indicates that bedrock beneath part of a glacier on Langtang Lirung collapsed, bringing a huge mass of ice and rock down the mountain. That material thundered into the valley below and helped generate the enormous debris flow that subsequently raced through the river system.
The US Geological Survey also concluded that seismic signals initially interpreted as a magnitude-4.4 earthquake were instead generated by the landslide itself. Researchers from the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said evidence pointed towards a rock-and-ice avalanche blocking the Lhende River and triggering a cascading flood event.
The force was extraordinary. Associated Press reported that the Trishuli River expanded dramatically and became packed with mud and debris. Communities including Syapru Besi were heavily damaged, while buildings, roads and other infrastructure were swept away.
Scientists have cautioned against declaring that climate change directly caused this specific collapse before investigations are completed. However, warming temperatures are melting glaciers and thawing high-altitude permafrost, processes that can make Himalayan slopes increasingly unstable and raise the risk of rockfalls, avalanches and cascading glacier-related floods.
Death toll surges as international scale becomes clear
The disaster has now become a global tragedy.
By Friday morning, AP reported that at least 472 people had died across Nepal and Tibet, including 469 in Nepal, while more than 1,500 remained missing. Nepal’s disaster authority listed 977 people as missing, while another 558 were unaccounted for in Tibet’s Gyirong County. Authorities have stressed that these numbers may continue changing as survivors are located and duplicate or incomplete reports are reconciled.
Hundreds of those missing are foreigners. Travellers from India, the United States, Malaysia, Ukraine, Australia, Britain, Canada, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Russia and numerous other countries were in the region when the disaster struck. Many were trekkers or pilgrims travelling through the Nepal-Tibet corridor towards sacred Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.
The region is especially important for religious tourism. Mount Kailash is considered sacred by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and followers of the Bon tradition, attracting pilgrims from around the world.
Then another threat appeared upstream
As rescuers searched through the destruction on Friday, officials suddenly faced another potentially deadly problem.
Debris from the original landslide created a barrier lake upstream near the Nepal-China border. By Friday, Reuters reported that the lake was holding more than 2.5 million cubic metres of water and had begun overflowing.
Residents in Nepal’s Rasuwa district were seen rushing towards higher ground as river levels began rising. Chinese rescue teams withdrew personnel and vehicles to safer locations, while Nepal temporarily suspended some rescue operations because of the risk that the natural blockage could fail and unleash another surge downstream.
Singapore’s MFA specifically warned of this second-flood risk, urging Singaporeans in affected areas to remain vigilant, follow instructions from local authorities and avoid rivers, riverbanks and low-lying areas.
That secondary danger could make the search for the missing even harder. Roads and bridges have already been destroyed, communications disrupted and large areas buried beneath thick sediment.
Singapore steps up its response
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has expressed condolences to those affected, saying Singapore is working closely with authorities in Nepal and China to provide consular assistance. Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also said Singapore was putting together humanitarian assistance for Nepal.
The Singapore Red Cross has separately committed S$50,000 in humanitarian aid and launched a public fundraising appeal running from Aug 28 to Nov 30. The organisation said the money would support needs including search-and-rescue work, emergency medical assistance and assessments of affected communities.
Nepal has also created an Emergency Response Team specifically to coordinate information about missing and affected foreign nationals, including search-and-rescue information and consular assistance.
For families waiting for word from the mountains, however, the next confirmed name — rescued, located or otherwise accounted for — matters more than the rapidly changing statistics.
And with the original disaster zone still buried under mud while an unstable lake threatens communities downstream, the search for answers is taking place against a race to prevent another disaster from following the first.
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