Nepal floods: Death toll crosses 1,000 as rescuers recover more bodies
The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Nepal surged to 1,050 on Tuesday, with security forces recovering more bodies from eight districts of the country, officials said.
Rescuers struggled to trace those stranded amid intermittent rainfall and a fresh flood alert as water levels rose in rivers across eastern, central and western parts of Nepal.
Nearly 4,000 people, including 583 foreigners and 83 security personnel, still remain missing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said.
Around 12,000 people have been rescued, it said. Flash floods, triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal on August 26.
The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.
The disaster also killed 16 people on the Chinese side, while nearly 550 people remain missing in Tibet, according to Chinese media reports. In Nepal, 321 bodies were recovered in Chitwan district, followed by 216 in Nawalparasi East, 170 in Nawalparasi West, 142 in Nuwakot, 65 in Gorkha, 57 in Dhading, 41 in Rasuwa and 38 in Tanahun, according to NDRRMA. Nepal’s hospitals are struggling to cope with the growing number of unidentified bodies. Large gatherings were witnessed at medical facilities, with people carrying photographs of missing relatives and scrutinising images of the dead pasted on the walls.
Unidentified bodies have been kept at 21 hospitals across the country, officials said.
Of the total bodies recovered so far, only around 60 were handed over to relatives after identification, while nearly 700 were buried after documentation and preservation of identification records, officials said. Rescue teams are still trying to trace 683 workers and employees in various hydropower project sites in flood-hit areas, of which many are believed to be trapped in tunnels.
Expert teams from India and China are assisting the Nepalese rescuers in these operations.
India’s specialised tunnel rescue team made progress at two hydropower sites, establishing a foothold inside a tunnel at Chilime and probing up to 185 metres at Langtang, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava said in a post on X.
The team worked at the two sites in coordination with the Nepali Army despite inclement weather and difficult access conditions. Rescuers are being slowed by water, mud and debris blocking tunnel entrances, difficult terrain and damaged access routes, while the lack of specialised equipment and technical expertise at some sites is further complicating efforts to reach workers who may still be trapped underground.
