KATHMANDU, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hira Bahadur Dikshit, a resident of Dhungebazaar, a settlement swept away by the floods in northern Nepal, was still in shock as he looked at the devastated area that was once a bustling town.
The flood, triggered by the collapse of a glacier on the Nepalese side at a higher elevation on Wednesday, left a trail of destruction across riverside areas in Nepal, killing hundreds of people and damaging infrastructure.
Dikshit said he had never witnessed such a devastating flood in his life.
The entire settlement of Dhungebazaar, located in Bidur municipality of Nuwakot district, was swept away by the flood. The settlement, which stretched along the riverbank, was once a bustling town.
"I ran to higher ground on a nearby hill when I heard that a massive flood was approaching," he said. "But many people in the settlement could not save themselves."
On Thursday, when journalists visited the area, it was difficult to find any trace of the houses that had stood there before the disaster. A large swath of land around the once-important town was submerged in muddy water.
Similarly, a settlement along the Trishuli River in Devighat, another area of Bidur municipality, was swept away by the flood. Virtually no traces remain of many structures along the riverbank.
Thick mud and waterlogged ground have left the area extremely unstable. People and livestock are believed to be buried beneath the mud and debris, although there was no immediate official estimate of how many people may have been buried.
There were no official figures available regarding the number of houses that were destroyed or buried in the disaster.
At the Nepal Army Training Center in Bidur municipality, family members of missing people have been seen anxiously waiting for news of their loved ones, many with tears in their eyes.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Authority said that as many as 538 bodies had been recovered from flood-hit areas as of 15:00 local time on Friday, with 977 people still missing. ■