Nepal and China report nearly 1,400 deaths after devastating floods

Twelve days after devastating floods and landslides struck the Himalayan region, the combined death toll in Nepal and China’s Tibet region has reached 1,384, while emergency teams continue searching for more than 5,500 missing people.

In Nepal, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) updated the official death toll Sunday to 1,341. The number of missing people rose to 4,996, including at least 589 foreign nationals, among them two Spaniards. Authorities say identifying victims remains one of the biggest challenges, with only 98 bodies so far returned to their families.

In China’s neighboring Tibet region, also heavily affected by the mud and rock avalanche on August 26, authorities reported 43 deaths and 519 people still missing.

Despite the passage of time, hopes of finding survivors have been renewed after four people were rescued alive in recent days. On Saturday, rescuers pulled 64-year-old Chandrika Shrestha alive after she spent 11 days buried under thick mud inside her home in Betrawati, Nuwakot.

Hours earlier, a Chinese national was rescued alive after spending 11 days trapped inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant in Rasuwa. The two rescues followed the recovery Friday of two workers who had spent 10 days trapped inside a tunnel at the nearby Trishuli 3A hydropower plant.

The Nepalese government has deployed 21,465 security personnel from the Army, Police and Armed Police Force to the affected areas. Officials said the operation has so far helped rescue and evacuate 13,104 people.

According to the latest official report, 6,075 injured people have received medical treatment, while 3,652 displaced residents remain in 39 temporary shelters across heavily affected districts including Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.