Death toll from the Aug 26 Himalayan flood rose to 1,066 across Nepal and Tibet on Tuesday
TRISHULI BAZAAR (NUWANKOT, NEPAL): Death toll from the Aug 26 Himalayan flood rose to 1,066 across Nepal and Tibet on Tuesday, while 4,462 people remained missing as rescue operations entered a critical phase. Of those killed, 1,050 were in Nepal and 16 in Tibet. Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority listed 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreign nationals, while China’s latest count listed another 546 missing in Tibet. For India, the latest MEA missing-person list remained at 275 Indian nationals and 128 PIOs. It said 158 Indian nationals had been rescued by Monday night.
Senior police officers and disaster management officials told TOI that, outside tunnels, underground powerhouses and other protected structures, “each successful rescue would now be a miracle”. “The sheer volume and force of the flash flood left virtually no accessible pockets of shelter along the open riverbanks,” a senior Nepal Police officer coordinating ground operations said. NDRRMA listed 639 people associated with hydel projects as missing, while Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal (IPPAN) put 894 people “out of contact” across 11 projects.
Seven days after the flood, hope of finding survivors in the open along the Bhote Koshi-Trishuli corridor dimmed sharply. This, even as teams searched stretches buried under sludge, boulders, uprooted trees and wreckage. The strongest remaining hopes now centre on Nepal’s devastated hydropower projects.
MEA didn’t revise the figure on Tuesday.