Nepal flash floods lead to 72 deaths, 384 travelers missing

At least 72 people were killed and 384 travelers reported missing after flash floods struck Rasuwa district in northern Nepal on Wednesday, according to separate updates from Nepal Police and the Nepal Tourism Board.

Exclusive aerial footage from China Central Television (CCTV) showed muddy flood debris covering parts of a river valley, with farmland and settlements visible on the surrounding hillsides.

Rasuwa district is home to the Nepalese side of Gyirong-Rasuwa Port on the China-Nepal border, where a mudslide hit at around 10:30 on Wednesday, causing severe casualties and left many people missing.

Of the travelers listed as missing, 291 were foreign nationals and 93 were Nepali citizens.

The Nepal Tourism Board said it was cross-checking the list with travel agencies, guides, local authorities, and security agencies, and that the figures could change as more information becomes available.

Nepal flash floods lead to 72 deaths, 384 travelers missing

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠A Chinese mainland spokeswoman on Wednesday refuted rumors spread by a Taiwan TV program that Beijing has no refrigerators, and called on Taiwanese compatriots to visit the mainland to see the truth for themselves.   Responding to the rumors, Zhang Han, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said such remarks are utterly detached from reality and nothing but a laughable stunt.

"The DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) authorities have been restricting and obstructing cross-strait exchanges, deliberately creating an 'information cocoon' on the island in an attempt to block the people in Taiwan from learning about the mainland. Their intentions are malicious. We welcome Taiwan people to break through these barriers, come over to the mainland more often, and see for themselves the real and lovely mainland," Zhang said.

Mainland spokeswoman rejects Taiwan TV program's malicious rumors