Daijiworld Media Network - Kathmandu
Kathmandu, Aug 30: The death toll from devastating flash floods in Nepal has risen to 675, with rescue teams continuing to recover bodies and search for nearly 2,400 missing people amid renewed rainfall and rising water levels in the Bhotekoshi River basin.
At least 320 foreign nationals are among those reported missing, while more than 4,400 people have so far been rescued or evacuated from the flood-hit areas.
Officials said at least 261 foreign tourists who had earlier gone out of contact have been rescued. They included 167 Indians, 40 Chinese, eight Ukrainians, four each from Germany and Malta, and three from the United States. Others were from Turkiye, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Oman, Belgium and Bulgaria.
According to Nepal Police, 675 bodies have been recovered from eight districts. Chitawan accounted for 246 deaths, followed by Nawalparasi East with 165, Nawalparasi West with 63 and Gorkha with 57. Another 45 bodies were recovered from Dhading, 51 from Nuwakot, 35 from Tanahu and 13 from Rasuwa.
More than 15,000 security personnel have been deployed for search and rescue operations. Helicopters are conducting repeated sorties to evacuate stranded people and deliver relief supplies to areas cut off after roads and bridges were swept away.
The disaster, believed to have been triggered by the collapse or avalanche of ice and rock in the Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border, sent a massive torrent of water, mud and debris downstream through central Nepal on Wednesday. Homes, vehicles, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure were severely damaged.
The Bhotekoshi River, flowing south from the Himalayan border region, became the main channel for the floodwaters, spreading devastation across several districts.
Seven people were also reported dead on the Chinese side of the border, with more than 550 people reported missing, according to Chinese authorities.
Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the government’s priority was to save every citizen affected by the disaster.
“It is the first priority of the state to save the life of each and every citizen through the mobilisation of all the state mechanism,” he said.
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said search and rescue teams, medical personnel and emergency responders were working together in the affected areas. Authorities were also coordinating with families to identify missing people, while diplomats were helping families communicate regarding missing foreign nationals.
Khanal said the government was closely monitoring the possibility of further flooding, with affected areas remaining on high alert.
Fresh rainfall and thunderstorms have added to the challenges facing rescue teams. Damaged roads and bridges, difficult terrain and intermittent rain have made access to some of the worst-hit settlements possible only by helicopter.
Authorities are also monitoring a new lake that formed upstream following the initial flooding. Although Chinese monitoring indicated that the lake had shrunk from its peak level, Nepali officials remained alert to the possibility of another surge downstream.
In a major development on Saturday, the Nepali Army managed to insert a pipe into a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower site, where workers are believed to be trapped.
“We have already started sending air through the small opening, and we will now begin excavation work and send the rescue team inside,” Home Minister Sudan Gurung said.
More than 100 workers are feared to be trapped in hydropower tunnels, with rescue operations focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.
An 11-member Indian expert team sent to Nepal carried out reconnaissance of hydropower tunnels in the affected areas before reaching Trishuli in Nuwakot district to assist with the rescue of workers trapped underground.
Nepali security forces have rescued 191 workers and residents from hydropower projects along the affected corridor, although many remain unaccounted for. Indian tunnel-rescue specialists are expected to provide technical support in the most difficult operations.
India has dispatched 57.6 tonnes of relief material to flood-ravaged areas of Nepal since Wednesday.
Nepal Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle praised India’s assistance, describing the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “exceptionally generous”. He said New Delhi had also indicated its willingness to provide substantial assistance for reconstruction.
Wagle said the immediate focus remained on rescuing stranded and trapped people, followed by recovery and reconstruction as authorities assess the enormous damage to infrastructure and communities.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority had warned of further flooding after water levels rose following Wednesday’s disaster. The meteorology department also forecast fresh rainfall and thunderstorms in affected areas, potentially disrupting rescue and relief operations.
The Mugling-Kathmandu highway, a key road connecting the capital with other parts of Nepal, reopened on Saturday after being closed since Wednesday because of flooding and landslide risks. Several other roads and highways in central Nepal remain blocked or difficult to access.
Survivors in Timure, near the Nepal-Tibet border, described scrambling up hillsides as a wall of water, mud and stones swept through the settlement, with houses disappearing within seconds.
In the aftermath, buildings have been buried under several feet of mud, vehicles left partially submerged and electricity poles uprooted and scattered across the debris. Families have been searching through wreckage for belongings, while relatives gather outside hospitals and relief centres seeking information about missing loved ones.
Rescuers continue to dig through mud, search riverbanks and fly into isolated areas in the hope of finding survivors.
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Nepali counterpart Shisir Khanal on Saturday and conveyed Beijing’s decision to provide emergency financial assistance and aid to Nepal following the flash floods along the Tibet-Nepal border.