Nepal Flash Flood Update: 584 Dead, 2,400 Missing

The death toll from flash floods along the border between Nepal and Tibet has risen to 584 people. More than 2,400 people have been declared missing.

Nepal’s disaster management agency stated on Friday that at least 579 people had died. China reported five fatalities, bringing the total death toll to at least 584.

The International Red Cross said the level of trauma caused by the flash floods in Nepal was “extraordinary”. Initial estimates suggest that 93,000 people may have been affected and the death toll is expected to continue rising.

“Due to damaged roads and bridges as well as disrupted mobile networks and power supplies, we have not yet been able to reach some of the worst-affected areas,” said David Fisher, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies delegation for Nepal.

“The trauma from this event is extraordinary,” he added.

Meanwhile, rescue teams in China’s Tibet autonomous region have reached the main site destroyed by a massive landslide, according to Chinese state media reports.

“At around 16.30 (08.30 GMT) on 28 August, six members of the Tibet Fire and Rescue Corps emergency response team and 15 members and a search dog from the Sichuan Fire and Rescue Corps emergency response team arrived in the border area… They are the first professional team to reach the main rescue site,” the Xinhua news agency reported.

Nepal’s disaster management authorities significantly raised the number of missing people to 1,924 on Friday. The latest data from Chinese officials on Thursday recorded 558 people missing in the region, bringing the total number of missing on both sides of the border to 2,482.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, those missing include 517 foreign nationals and 933 workers on hydroelectric power plant projects along the rivers.

Nepal issued a warning for residents to move to higher ground after a dam in Tibet was reported to have burst.

China also halted rescue efforts. State media reported that a lake formed by a massive pile of debris began to overflow. State media later stated that the risk from the lake had “decreased” and rescue operations were proceeding “in an orderly manner”.

It could not be confirmed whether the lake was the same as the dam that Nepali authorities warned had burst.