A total of 4,793 people remain missing, including 853 foreign nationals, according to authorities.
KATHMANDU: The death toll from devastating flash floods along the Nepal-China border has risen to 919, with nearly 4,800 people still missing nearly a week after the disaster, authorities said Monday.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 903 people had died on the Nepalese side of the border. Chinese state media reported 16 deaths in Gyirong County in the Xizang Autonomous Region, bringing the combined toll to 919.
A total of 4,793 people remain missing, including 853 foreign nationals, according to authorities.
In Nepal, those reported missing include 25 police officers, 45 army personnel, 13 members of the Armed Police Force and 14 customs officials. Three immigration officers and 933 hydropower workers are also unaccounted for.
Authorities said 127 Nepalese travelers remain missing following the glacier fracture on Mount Langtang Lirung on Aug. 26.
On the Chinese side, 546 people are missing in the Gyirong border area, including 261 foreign nationals.
Search and rescue teams are continuing operations in affected areas, with efforts focused on reaching workers stranded at hydropower projects in Nepal’s valleys.
China has deployed more than 2,100 personnel for search and rescue operations, supported by hundreds of vehicles and thousands of pieces of specialized equipment.
Rescue efforts are concentrated in areas hit by debris flows across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Kavre and the Kathmandu Valley.
The disaster began Aug. 26 when a glacier on Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an elevation of about 5,200 meters, triggering an ice-and-rock avalanche that developed into a massive debris flow.
The surge swept through valleys along the border, burying parts of the Gyirong area in Tibet and causing widespread destruction across central Nepal.
The flash floods and mudslides have been described as among the deadliest natural disasters to hit the region in recent years.
