Rescuers in Nepal have been put on high alert amid fresh flood warnings as the death from the previous catastrophic natural disaster reaches 900. Rescue operations are ongoing to search for thousands of missing people.
Around 4,247 people remain missing, according to Nepal’s disaster authorities. The disaster has also left hundreds of workers trapped or unaccounted for at hydropower projects across the affected region.
Authorities issued fresh warnings after water levels began rising in rivers in several districts, including Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
That has complicated an already desperate rescue operation.
Rescuers are trying to reach hundreds of people believed to be trapped inside hydropower tunnels that were blocked by huge amounts of mud and rock when the floods swept through the region.
Nepal’s army has been using heavy machinery and controlled blasts to clear the entrances, while Chinese and Indian specialists have also joined efforts to reach those trapped underground.
The disaster began last Wednesday after what authorities believe was a glacier collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border sent a massive surge of water, ice, rocks and mud down into valleys.
Entire communities were hit, roads and bridges were washed away and at least 12 hydropower projects were damaged.
More than 10,000 people have been rescued so far, including hundreds of foreigners, but the number of people still missing has made the search increasingly urgent.
The situation is also unfolding across the border in China’s Tibet region, where authorities have reported at least 16 deaths and hundreds of people missing.
Nepal’s disaster agency has warned that the danger has not passed. Rising rivers and unstable terrain could trigger further flooding and landslides just as rescue teams are trying to reach people who have already spent days waiting for help.
2026-08-31 21:13:00
