It was a catastrophic scene as people raced to escape the deadly torrent of water and earth that tore through a valley in Nepal along the Tibet border Wednesday.
Surveillance video captured the exact moment an unstoppable, 20-foot wall of water destroyed everything in its path.
Passengers in a car screamed in horror as they looked out the rear window while the floodwaters chased them down.
Entire villages have been wiped off the map, and homes and businesses have been buried under massive layers of earth.
Nepal police confirmed at least 270 people dead and more than 1,300 remain missing, including 65 Americans. The death toll, including Nepal and Tibet, is now over 350, and officials believe that number is expected to rise.
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Darren Jacklin of Canada was touring the region just hours prior to the disaster.
“I thought to myself, ‘Where would I have run when I was there? You know, what are my exit points? And I’m thinking to myself, there’s nowhere I could go – like, you know, there’s just mountains all around us,” Jacklin said.
Desperate search and rescue efforts are underway to reach those trapped beneath the mud and debris.
One man who survived was trapped on a rooftop before making a perilous leap onto a hovering helicopter.
Survivors formed human chains, wading through knee-deep sludge to safety.
Rescuers were seen using a front loader to carry an elderly victim to safety.
Another man recounted the terrifying moment the waters overtook his home, rising all the way to the top floor before subsiding an hour later. Tragically, his wife was buried by the mudslide.
Experts said the disaster was caused by a massive landslide that slammed into a glacier, melting tons of ice. The wall of water surged down the mountain at more than 40 miles per hour, an impact energy equivalent to a 5.2 magnitude earthquake.
“When all this rock comes down, it has a lot of energy. It warms up that ice and creates more water,” explained Goran Ekstrom of Columbia Climate School.
The missing Americans include a group of 22 people from Tennessee who were on a spiritual pilgrimage.
“The phones have been ringing off the hook,” said Leslie Crespi of the ISHA Foundation. “I was with one of the families earlier today to support them in any way that we can right now. It’s been very shocking to us.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department is pledging financial support to help Nepal in its time of need.
