Newsletters
More than 5,600 people remain missing nine days after flash floods and mudslides struck the Nepal-China border, with the death toll on both sides rising to 1,318, according to official data released Friday.
Nepal, a Himalayan nation bordering China and India, recorded 1,287 fatalities, while 5,083 others remained unaccounted for, the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said. Of those missing in Nepal, 583 are foreign nationals.
Across the border in the Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet, in southwestern China, authorities said at least 31 people were killed and 531 others remained missing, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Combined, 844 of the 5,614 people still missing on both sides of the border are foreign nationals, official figures show.
The latest toll was released after Nepal rescued two people from the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project. At least six hydropower projects on the Nepalese side of the border were hit by the floods, and a search is continuing for around 900 personnel who were deployed at the facilities.
Nepal's disaster authority also said the Chaulani River is half-blocked and warned that continued landslides could seal it off completely.
The District Administration Office in Darchula has urged residents along the riverbanks and in lower riparian areas to exercise caution.
The disaster began on Aug. 26, when a glacier on Nepal's Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet), triggering an ice-rock avalanche that developed into a massive debris flow through valleys along the border.
Floodwaters and mudslides devastated Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts, as well as the Kathmandu Valley, the capital region. The disaster also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
2 min read
