The death toll from the devastating flash floods that struck Nepal on August 26 has risen to 903, while 4,247 people remain missing, authorities said on Monday, August 31.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said bodies continued to be recovered from several districts, including 272 from Chitwan, 207 from Nawalparasi East, 151 from Nawalparasi West and 95 from Nuwakot. The disaster has also left 99 security personnel and 591 foreign nationals missing.
The floods, believed to have been triggered by an ice and rock collapse or avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, swept through northern and central Nepal, destroying homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.
Nearly 9,500 people, including local residents and foreign tourists, have been rescued from the affected areas. The floods also killed 16 people on the Chinese side, while nearly 550 people remain missing in Tibet, according to Chinese media reports.
The disaster destroyed sections of the Bhotekoshi Corridor, Nepal’s main land trade route with China, and the Rasuwagadhi border crossing. Authorities have also warned of rising water levels in the Bhotekoshi River.
Hospitals have seen families searching for missing relatives as authorities continue efforts to identify recovered bodies. Nepal Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said unidentified remains had been buried according to standard protocols, while an 18-member Indian forensic team specialising in DNA analysis had arrived in Nepal to assist in the identification process.
