Nepal Floods Death toll reaches 469 as rescuers search for survivors

Rescue teams in Nepal are using heavy machinery, helicopters and sniffer dogs to search for survivors after a devastating flash flood killed at least 469 people and left nearly 1,000 missing across Nepal and neighbouring Tibet.

The disaster struck on Wednesday after a glacier collapse sent a powerful torrent of water, rock, ice, mud and debris through Himalayan river systems. The flooding destroyed villages, roads, bridges and power stations along a major route connecting Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Officials said at least 540 foreigners are among those reported missing. Helicopters have been deployed to search isolated valleys and deliver emergency supplies to thousands of people cut off by the destruction.

Emergency workers have also recovered dozens of bodies carried downstream into Nepal’s plains.

In the hard-hit town of Rasuwa, survivor Dibga Tamang was among several people rescued by helicopter on Thursday. He described the devastation as total.

“All of our people have gone. They are dead,” Tamang said. “Everything and everyone is gone.”

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Authorities are also warning of the risk of further flooding as large quantities of water and debris continue to move through the region.

Nepal’s disaster management authority said a debris-dammed lake on the Bhotekoshi River was rising and could burst. China separately warned that about three million cubic metres of water could enter an already dammed lake over the next three days.

Chinese officials said the lake faced a high risk of breaching, with peak water flow expected around September 1.

“The volume of water is continuing to increase, and so is the risk,” Zhu Jinfeng, a researcher at China’s water resources ministry, told state broadcaster CCTV.

On the Chinese side of the border, rescue teams were struggling to reach the worst-hit area around the Gyirong border crossing as crews cleared debris from the main access road.

The crossing plays an important role in China’s Belt and Road network and connects China with South Asia. Dramatic footage showed torrents of muddy water and debris sweeping through the area and engulfing structures within seconds.

CCTV reported that 558 people remained missing in Tibet’s Gyirong County, including 260 foreign nationals. Three deaths had been confirmed on the Chinese side.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the disaster zone in Gyirong on Thursday, highlighting the seriousness of the emergency.

Survivors in Nepal described the flood as sudden and overwhelming.

“The river looked small from a distance but it suddenly started overflowing and swept through,” said survivor Janak Bahadur in Devighat.

Relatives of missing people from several countries are anxiously awaiting information. India, Australia and South Korea are among the countries sending assistance and rescue teams.

US President Donald Trump said Washington had offered aid and told Nepal’s leadership that the United States was ready to provide whatever support was required.

In Nepal’s Chitwan district, officials have recovered 103 bodies from the river system, according to district administrator Ganesh Aryal. The district lies about 100 kilometres from the worst-hit area of Trishuli.

With local hospitals struggling to accommodate the dead, authorities have established temporary facilities where families can identify and claim the bodies of relatives.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who visited flood-hit Nuwakot on Thursday, said the government was operating at full capacity.

“Our first priority now is to save life of each citizen, search and rescue of the missing, treat the injured and provide immediate relief to the affected families,” he said.

The disaster poses a major challenge to Shah’s five-month-old government. Officials, however, said Nepal had experienced emergency personnel and systems capable of responding to large-scale disasters, including the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people.