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Himalayan Disaster Death Toll Nears 800 · GNN Daily Breaking News

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  Speaker 1: In the Himalayas, rescuers are waging a desperate battle against
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  Speaker 1: raging floods and mountains of debris as the death toll
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  Speaker 1: from last week's catastrophic glacier collapse nears 800. The disaster,
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  Speaker 1: which struck along the Nepal-China border, has become one of
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  Speaker 1: the deadliest natural calamities in the region's modern history, overwhelming
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  Speaker 1: local authorities and stretching international aid efforts to the limit.
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  Speaker 1: The collapse unleashed torrents of water, mud, and rock into
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  Speaker 1: Nepal's Razawa, Nuakot, and dating districts, sweeping away entire villages
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  Speaker 1: and destroying bridges, roads, and power lines. Across the border
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  Speaker 1: in Tibet's Jairong County, Chinese officials reported similar devastation, with
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  Speaker 1: homes flattened and thousands displaced. Helicopters, bulldozers, and sniffer dogs
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  Speaker 1: have been deployed. but heavy rains and unstable terrain continue
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  Speaker 1: to hinder access to remote areas. Authorities say more than 1,500
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: people remain missing, including hundreds of foreign nationals. India has
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  Speaker 1: confirmed nearly 290 citizens unaccounted for, many pilgrims on the
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  Speaker 1: Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra. The United States has reported about 90 missing,
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  Speaker 1: while Canada, Australia, Britain, Malaysia, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea,
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  Speaker 1: and the Netherlands have also listed nationals among the missing.
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  Speaker 1: Rescue operations are being coordinated by Nepal's army and police,
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  Speaker 1: with support from China, which has sent hundreds of emergency
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  Speaker 1: personnel into Tibet. Premier Li Cheng personally visited the disaster zone,
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  Speaker 1: underscoring the regional scale of the tragedy. India has set
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  Speaker 1: up emergency control rooms in Delhi and issued helplines for
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  Speaker 1: stranded nationals, while the Nepal Tourism Board has activated its
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  Speaker 1: tourist police hotline, 985-128-9445. Humanitarian agencies warn of worsening conditions
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  Speaker 1: in relief camps, where displaced families face shortages of food,
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  Speaker 1: clean water, and medical supplies. Doctors caution that outbreaks of
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  Speaker 1: waterborne diseases are likely if aid does not arrive quickly. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: officials stress that upstream glacial lakes remain unstable, raising fears
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  Speaker 1: of further collapses. The tragedy has intensified calls for stronger
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  Speaker 1: disaster preparedness and cross-border cooperation. Nepal has formally requested early
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: warning data from China to monitor glacial lakes, while international
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  Speaker 1: scientists emphasize that climate change is accelerating the risks of
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  Speaker 1: glacial lake outburst floods, GLOFS, across the Himalayas. For survivors,
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  Speaker 1: the ordeal is far from over. Families continue to search
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  Speaker 1: for missing loved ones, often waiting outside police stations and
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  Speaker 1: hospitals with photographs in hand. Authorities have begun mass burials
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  Speaker 1: of unidentified victims, collecting DNA samples before interment to allow
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  Speaker 1: for later identification. As the death toll approaches 800, the
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  Speaker 1: disaster stands as a grim reminder of the fragility of
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  Speaker 1: mountain communities in the face of climate-driven catastrophes. For Nepal, China,
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  Speaker 1: and the wider region, the challenge now is not only
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  Speaker 1: rescue and recovery, but also preparing for the next collapse
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  Speaker 1: in a landscape increasingly shaped by warming temperatures and unstable terrain.