Nepal flood death toll hits 734, hundred missing as rescue race enters fifth day

KATHMANDU: The death toll from catastrophic floods and mudslides along the Nepal-Tibet border has climbed to 750, with rescue teams entering a critical fifth day of operations as thousands remain missing across Nepal and Tibet.

Nepal’s disaster authority said on Sunday that 734 people had died and 2,498 remained missing in the country. China has separately reported 16 deaths and 546 missing people in Tibet, bringing the combined toll to 750 dead and 3,044 missing.

The disaster, which began on Wednesday after a massive glacier-related collapse unleashed torrents of water, ice, rocks and mud, has devastated communities along major Himalayan river systems. Entire sections of roads, bridges, homes and other infrastructure have been swept away or buried under layers of debris.

Nepal’s missing-person list has continued to grow. The latest figure of 2,498 is higher than the 2,426 reported on Saturday. Among those listed as missing are 589 foreign nationals and 933 workers employed on hydropower projects along the river system hit by the flood.

Despite the scale of the destruction, rescue teams have managed to save thousands. Nepal’s disaster authority said 8,186 people had been rescued, including 227 foreigners.

Foreign nationals missing in Tibet

The crisis has also created an international search effort on the Chinese side of the border.

China said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries remained unaccounted for in Tibet following the mudslide. The largest group was Nepalese, with 104 people missing, followed by 49 Indians, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans and 15 Britons.

Chinese authorities said foreign governments had been notified about their missing citizens and that efforts were under way to identify those still unaccounted for.

The latest figures have added urgency to rescue operations in the mountainous border region, where damaged roads, unstable terrain and rising river levels are making access extremely difficult.

Local police have warned of further risks after water levels in the Trishuli River rose, forcing some residents and rescue workers to move to higher ground.

China links disaster to climate change

China has attributed the disaster to glacier instability linked to the long-term effects of global warming, describing it as an increasingly prominent type of cryosphere disaster on the Tibetan Plateau.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that scientists found the mudslide took only six to seven minutes to travel from the Nepalese side to the Gyirong border crossing.

Video footage from the crossing showed powerful torrents of water and debris overwhelming buildings as people scrambled to escape.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the disaster in a telephone conversation with his Nepali counterpart as the most severe cross-border disaster between the two countries in recent years.

Beijing has mobilised more than 2,100 emergency workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan, or about $32.7 million, for relief operations. China is also providing emergency supplies, financial assistance, satellite and hydrological information and specialists capable of conducting tunnel rescues.

The two countries are coordinating efforts to locate missing people, including foreign nationals, while also discussing longer-term cooperation on disaster prevention, mitigation and climate-related risks.

A disaster with regional consequences

The floods have also affected neighbouring India. Authorities there have recovered seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, which are believed to be victims of the disaster, although those deaths have not been included in Nepal’s official toll.

The humanitarian impact is expected to be enormous. The Red Cross has estimated that more than 90,000 people may have been affected, adding to the pressure on authorities to provide shelter, medical care, food and other essential assistance.

The disaster has also raised fresh concerns about the growing vulnerability of Himalayan communities to extreme events. Reuters reported that scientists have linked the catastrophe to glacier collapse, while the wider region has experienced increasing concern over unstable glaciers and glacial lakes as temperatures rise.

For rescuers, however, the immediate priority remains finding survivors.

Every passing hour makes the search harder as debris covers villages, rivers remain swollen and sections of the landscape remain unstable. Rescue crews are working through mud and wreckage while authorities attempt to establish the whereabouts of thousands of missing people.

With 3,044 people still unaccounted for across Nepal and Tibet, families on both sides of the border continue to wait for news.

The fifth day of the rescue operation is therefore unfolding as a race against time — not only to recover the missing, but also to prevent further casualties from secondary floods, landslides and unstable mountain terrain.

The catastrophe has already become one of Nepal’s most devastating recent natural disasters, leaving a trail of destruction across the Himalayan frontier and underscoring the increasingly serious risks faced by communities living beneath a rapidly changing mountain environment.