Kathmandu— Rescuers in Nepal and China are urgently searching for thousands of people missing after a deadly glacial collapse that triggered catastrophic floods on the border between the two countries. The flooding, which authorities believe was caused by a glacial collapse, has claimed at least 1,384 lives and left more than 5,500 people missing, including about 800 foreigners. Search and rescue operations have been ongoing for 12 days, with teams facing challenging conditions and limited resources.

Global Community’s Responsibility

Experts point to the global community’s responsibility to address the increasing frequency and scale of glacier floods, which have become nearly five times more frequent since 1950, according to a United Nations study. Manjeet Dhakal highlighted that countries hit by such disasters are being forced to divert funds set aside for health, education, and development. He emphasized that the global community has a bigger responsibility to come in and cover the costs of such disasters. The UN fund has limited resources, with only about $631m of $822m in funds pledged by contributing states since inception and yet to be spent. However, even a “symbolic amount” could serve as an “inspiring lesson for the fund to justify what it was established for.”

The search and rescue operations continue, with both countries facing significant challenges. The global community is being called upon to address the climate change impacts that exacerbate such disasters, with Nepal’s formal request for climate compensation serving as a reminder of the urgent need for action.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.