Death Toll from Nepal-China Flash Floods Reaches 919, with 4,800 Missing
The death toll from flash floods and mudslides that struck the Nepal-China border has risen to at least 919, while nearly 4,800 people remain missing, including 853 foreign nationals, according to authorities on Monday, six days after the disaster occurred.
The Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that 903 deaths have been confirmed in Nepal, with 4,247 people, including 592 foreign nationals, still missing. Search and rescue operations are continuing across the affected region, with authorities also working to reach workers trapped at several hydropower projects.
Among the missing on the Nepali side are 25 Nepal Police personnel, 45 from the Nepal Army, 13 from the Nepal Armed Police Force, 14 from the Nepal Customs Office, three from the Nepal Immigration Office, and 933 personnel stationed at various hydropower plants in Nepal, among others. It was also noted that 127 Nepali tourists are included on the missing persons list.
On the Chinese side, 16 people have been confirmed dead and 546 others remain missing in Gyirong County in the Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) in southwestern China, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Of those missing, 261 are foreign nationals.
Combined, the death toll stands at 919 and the number of missing has reached 4,793, including 853 foreign nationals. China has deployed more than 2,100 personnel for search and rescue operations, along with hundreds of vehicles and thousands of pieces of rescue equipment.
The flash flood disaster struck on Wednesday (26/8) when a glacier on Mount Langtang Lirung in Nepal cracked at an altitude of approximately 5,200 metres, triggering an avalanche of ice and rock that developed into a massive debris flow and swept through valleys along the border. The enormous wave of water, along with mudslides, devastated the Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Kavre, and Kathmandu Valley regions of Nepal, and buried the Gyirong border area on the Chinese side.