Death Toll and Missing Figures
The death toll from last week's devastating flooding in Nepal has risen to 903 people, officials said Monday, while the number of those listed as missing nearly doubled to 4,247, according to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA). Among the missing are 592 foreign nationals, including about 85 Americans, according to a State Department spokesperson.
The NDRRMA provided a district-by-district breakdown of recovered bodies: 272 in Chitwan, 207 in Nawalparasi East, 151 in Nawalparasi West, 62 in Gorkha, 95 in Nuwakot, 55 in Dhading, 37 in Tanahu, and 24 in Rasuwa. The authority also reported that 85 security personnel and 320 foreigners are among the missing.
Rescue and Relief Operations
Around 9,500 people have been rescued so far, according to the NDRRMA, while other Nepali officials put the number at more than 10,400, including 277 foreign nationals. Rescue operations involving crews from India and China have intensified as authorities attempt to reach hundreds of people believed trapped inside tunnels at hydropower projects, including the Trishuli-3A site. Many of those still missing in Nepal are believed to be workers at these projects.
According to the Nepal Red Cross, the disaster has affected more than 90,000 people. In Chitwan district, a police officer told Reuters that "more than half" the bodies recovered there were "beyond recognition." Authorities have dug hundreds of graves in Chitwan's Devghat forest, nearly 200 km from the flood-ravaged valleys of Rasuwa. They buried 96 unidentified bodies on Saturday and planned to bury more than 100 others on Sunday, Reuters reported. Nepalese authorities are collecting DNA samples from the unidentified bodies, allowing remains to be located and exhumed if the victims are later identified through family claims, official records, or genetic testing.
Cause and Ongoing Risks
The flooding stemmed from a glacier collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday, according to officials. An ice-and-rock collapse or avalanche near the border on August 26 triggered flash floods and landslides. River Bhotekoshi, flowing south from the Himalayan border region, carried floodwaters downstream, devastating towns and villages, sweeping away homes and vehicles, damaging roads and bridges, and affecting hydropower projects across northern and central Nepal.
The NDRRMA on Sunday warned that water levels in River Bhotekoshi had risen again and urged residents and rescue personnel in flood-hit districts to remain alert. China's state-run media, CCTV, reported that a landslide-dammed lake above the border checkpoint is overflowing, further complicating the response effort, though it said the likelihood of a complete breach is "relatively low." Heavy rain in Nepal has pushed up river levels and prompted fresh warnings for people living along waterways.
Impact on India
In neighboring India, Bihar has been placed on high alert amid the possibility of rising water levels in River Gandak. The state government has asked districts along the river, including West Champaran, East Champaran, Gopalganj, Saran, Muzaffarpur, and Vaishali, to remain vigilant. In Uttar Pradesh, four more bodies were recovered from River Gandak in Kushinagar district on Sunday after they apparently drifted into Indian territory from Nepal. A total of 13 bodies have been recovered in the district over the past four days, according to officials.
Cross-Border Casualties
China has separately reported 16 deaths and 546 people missing in its Tibet region, including hundreds of foreigners, according to Chinese media reports. It remains unclear how much overlap exists between the Chinese and Nepali missing-person counts.