Kathmandu, Aug 31 (V7N) – The death toll from devastating flash floods along Nepal's border with China has climbed to at least 939, with 3,925 people still unaccounted for, as search and rescue operations entered their sixth day .
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) confirmed the latest figures, noting that the number of missing includes 592 foreign nationals and 3,333 Nepali citizens . Hardest-hit districts include Nuwakot with 1,158 missing and Rasuwa with 865 unaccounted for .
Among the missing are 45 Nepali army soldiers, 38 police officers, and 18 customs and immigration officials. The number of missing workers on hydropower projects dropped to 639 from an earlier count of 933 as rescue teams continue to reach those trapped in tunnels.
In neighboring China, state media has confirmed 16 dead and 546 people missing in Tibet, bringing the overall regional toll to 955 dead and 4,471 missing.
Around 20,000 personnel have been deployed for rescue operations, with teams from China, South Korea and India joining local efforts . Helicopters have been ferrying supplies and evacuating survivors, but operations have been hampered by treacherous terrain, swamp-like conditions, and ongoing rainfall .
Nepali authorities have prioritized reaching hundreds of workers believed trapped in tunnels of hydropower stations, which bore the full force of the torrent . "There is just an enormous amount of debris, mud, silt inside these tunnels. So they're having to blast through some of these tunnels further downstream," one official told CNN .
In India, authorities in Uttar Pradesh state said they had recovered 17 bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, believed to be flood victims. Indian authorities are seeking to identify the bodies, and they are not included in the official toll.
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