Nepal flood death toll rises to 675; nearly 2,400 still missing as rain hampers rescue

Kathmandu: The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Nepal has risen to 675, with rescue teams continuing to recover bodies amid renewed rainfall, rising water levels and fears of further flooding in the Bhotekoshi River basin.

Nearly 2,400 people remain missing, including at least 320 foreign nationals, while more than 4,400 people have so far been rescued or evacuated, officials said.

At least 261 foreign tourists who had gone out of contact have also been rescued. They include 167 Indians, 40 Chinese, eight Ukrainians, four each from Germany and Malta, and three from the US. The remaining survivors were from Turkiye, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Oman, Belgium and Bulgaria.

According to Nepal Police, 675 bodies have been recovered from eight affected districts.

Chitawan recorded the highest number of recovered bodies at 246, 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 have been making repeated sorties to evacuate stranded people and deliver essential relief supplies.

The disaster, believed to have been triggered by an ice and rock collapse or avalanche in the Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border, sent a massive torrent of water, mud and debris downstream through central Nepal on Wednesday.

The floods devastated towns and villages, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects. The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, became the main channel for the floodwaters as they spread downstream.

Seven people were also reported dead on the Chinese side of the border, while more than 550 people were reported missing, according to Chinese authorities.

Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah said on Saturday that 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 across the affected areas. Authorities were also coordinating with families to identify missing people, while diplomats were helping establish contact with relatives of missing foreign nationals.

Khanal said the government was monitoring the possibility of further flooding and that the affected areas remained on “high alert”.

Renewed rainfall has further complicated rescue efforts, with damaged roads and bridges cutting off several remote settlements. Some of the worst-hit locations can now only be reached by helicopter, while difficult terrain is making ground operations more challenging.

A new lake formed upstream of the disaster zone following the initial flooding, raising concerns about another surge downstream. Chinese monitoring indicated that the lake had since shrunk from its peak level, but Nepali authorities continued to closely monitor water levels and the risk of further flooding.

Indian rescue team assists operations

An 11-member Indian specialist team deployed to Nepal conducted an on-site assessment of hydropower tunnels in the flood-hit areas on Saturday.

The team later reached Trishuli in Nuwakot district to assist with efforts to rescue workers trapped inside a hydropower project tunnel.

Nepali security forces have rescued 191 workers and residents from hydropower projects along the affected corridor. However, several people remain unaccounted for at various sites, with Indian tunnel-rescue specialists expected to provide technical support for some of the most challenging operations.

India has dispatched 57.6 tonnes of relief material to flood-hit areas of Nepal since Wednesday.

Kathmandu has praised India's assistance, with Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle describing the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “exceptionally generous”. He said New Delhi had indicated that it would extend substantial support for reconstruction.

Wagle said the immediate priority remained rescuing people stranded or trapped by the floods, followed by recovery and reconstruction as authorities assess the extensive damage to infrastructure and communities.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority had warned on Friday of possible further flooding after water levels rose in the affected area. Officials have continued to monitor the situation as intermittent rain threatens to disrupt rescue and relief operations.

The country's meteorology department also warned on Saturday of fresh rainfall and thunderstorms in areas affected by the flash floods.

Meanwhile, the Mugling-Kathmandu highway, a key road link 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.

The scale of the devastation has also been accompanied by dramatic accounts of survival. In Timure, near the Nepal-Tibet border, survivors described scrambling up hillsides as a wall of water, mud and rocks swept through the town, with some homes disappearing within seconds.

Several settlements remain buried under thick layers of mud, while vehicles lie partially submerged and electricity poles have been uprooted and scattered across the debris.

Families continue to search through the wreckage for belongings and missing relatives, while anxious relatives gather at hospitals and relief centres, checking lists of survivors and photographs of those who have died.

Rescuers are continuing to dig through mud, search riverbanks and use helicopters to reach isolated areas in the hope of finding more survivors.

In a separate development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Nepali counterpart Shisir Khanal on Saturday and conveyed Beijing's decision to provide an assistance package to Nepal following the flash floods along the Tibet-Nepal border.

(PTI)