UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal — An avalanche of ice and rock triggered massive flash floods in Nepal on Wednesday, killing at least eight people and leaving hundreds missing while causing widespread damage to villages and infrastructure.Officials said 384 tourists, including 291 from countries such as India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Malaysia, were reported missing.The Bhotekoshi River flooded around 9 a.m.local time Wednesday, destroying several villages, roads and hydropower projects, officials said."We have asked both India and China to help us with the rescue efforts," said Sasmit Pokharel, a spokesperson for the Nepali government.Dozens of multi-storied buildings, trucks, and vans were buried under vast quantities of mud in the district of Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected areas.
Officials warned residents in several of Nepal's districts and asked them to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli, and Narayani rivers.Nepal tourism board officials said most of the missing were likely tourists from India and the Indian diaspora on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.South Korean government officials said their citizens working on building a hydropower plant in Nepal were among those reported missing.Malaysia's Foreign Ministry also said its embassy in Kathmandu has received reports from travel agencies that they had lost contact with 11 Malaysians believed to be in the Rasuwa district, which was hit hard by the floods.The same regions affected by Wednesday's disaster saw flash floods similar to those in August last year, when a glacial lake in neighboring Tibet overflowed because of high temperatures in the mountain region.Nine people were killed, and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China, was damaged at the time.Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development say an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday's flash flood.The Lhe...