Mount Kailash, a Himalayan peak in Tibet, is sacred to several religious traditions and draws pilgrims from across the region. Pilgrims traditionally walk around the mountain rather than climb it, completing a roughly 33-mile (53-kilometer) circuit as a religious practice, while nearby Lake Manasarovar is also a site of spiritual purification. Hundreds of foreigners were among those reported missing after catastrophic floods struck the Nepal-China border region, including Indian nationals on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash.

A glacier collapse in Tibet caused catastrophic flash flooding Wednesday in a border area of China and Nepal. Authorities in both countries ha…