![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024eccc-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPeople mourn their missing relatives in the aftermath of the floods, outside a mortuary in Nepal’s Chitwan district<\/p>\n
The death toll following devastating floods in Nepal has surpassed 900, as rescue teams worked overnight to reach hundreds of people believed to be stuck inside blocked hydropower project tunnels.<\/p>\n
The country’s disaster authority said 903 were now dead, while the number missing in the aftermath also jumped to 4,247.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris on the Nepal-Tibet border happened last Wednesday and has been blamed on a glacier collapse.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of bodies, many unidentified, have been buried in shallow graves as they began decomposing in the humid weather in the plains of the Himalayan country after being swept down the mountains by the torrent.<\/p>\n
\nPeople mourn their missing relatives in the aftermath of the floods, outside a mortuary in Nepal’s Chitwan district<\/p>\n
Nepali officials said that the focus was on reaching the hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside about half a dozen hydropower project tunnels that had been blocked by mud and rock debris.<\/p>\n
Pictures and videos shared by rescue teams showed earth-moving equipment digging and shovelling mud and rocks under lights in the dark of the night as workers watched.<\/p>\n
Soldiers used torchlight in a big pit they had created to look for space to get into one tunnel.<\/p>\n
Nepal\u2019s disaster management authority said that 933 people were missing from hydropower projects in the flood-hit region.<\/p>\n
The Red \u200cCross has estimated that more than 90,000 people are likely to \u2060have been affected by the disaster, which China has linked to the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024ecce-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPolice personnel work at a mass burial of flood victims at Devghat in Nepal<\/p>\n
Assessment of damage challenging, says Nepali prime minster<\/p>\n
“A large amount of debris has been deposited and that is posing us a big challenge to open the tunnels,” Nepal army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told Reuters. “Our main focus is on opening the tunnels.”<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the flood was an “unprecedented and devastating natural disaster” and it remained challenging to compile a complete assessment of the damage.<\/p>\n
“Despite the adverse weather, difficult terrain and continuing risks, we are moving forward with determination to save the lives of our citizens,” he said in a Facebook post late yesterday.<\/p>\n
He added that nearly 21,000 security personnel were involved in the rescue operations, aside from civilian workers and volunteers.<\/p>\n
On the Chinese side, authorities said 16 people were killed in Gyirong \u2060County and 546 were missing.<\/p>\n
Beijing has said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were unaccounted for in Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal.<\/p>\n
![\"Families](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024ecc8-614.jpg\"\/)
\nFamilies and relatives check the name images of those missing in Kathmandu<\/p>\n
China\u2019s state-run CCTV reported Beijing has mobilised \u200cmore than 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan (\u20ac28m) to support relief efforts and has been airdropping equipment and supplies to \u2060frontline rescuers, while its soldiers \u200cused life-detection equipment to look for the missing.<\/p>\n
Survivors look to salvage belongings<\/p>\n
Although Nepal has said that it does not need foreign help in general rescue and search, it has leaned on giant neighbours India and China for their expertise in tunnel rescue.<\/p>\n
Rescuers in Nepal use a digger to find those missing<\/p>\n
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Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday because of bad weather and concerns that a lake formed across the Nepal-China border by the disaster could trigger fresh flooding after it began overflowing into Nepal’s rivers.<\/p>\n
The weather was \u2060good this morning and rescue work continued to pick up pace, said Narendra Pariyar, the district administrator of Rasuwa, one of the two hard-hit districts.<\/p>\n
In the holy town of Devighat, on the banks of the \u2060Trishuli river that was flooded, residents walked around the shells of what had once been homes, trying to salvage their belongings from the debris.<\/p>\n
![\"GYIRONG,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024ecc7-614.jpg\"\/)
\nOvernight rain and rising river waters hampered rescue operations<\/p>\n
The flood was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming”, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, saying it was a “new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters” on the Tibetan plateau.<\/p>\n
Two Nepali officials told Reuters that China had not shared much information on glacier risks and water levels following a meeting to strengthen cooperation earlier this year, and they feared that a lack of data sharing could hamper future disaster preparedness.<\/p>\n