Kathmandu (Web Desk): The death toll from catastrophic flash floods and landslides in Nepal and China has reached 633, while almost 3,000 people are still missing, according to figures released by authorities and reported by local media on Saturday.
Nepal has recorded 626 fatalities, while 2,426 people remain unaccounted for, The Kathmandu Post reported, quoting figures from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
Rescue personnel have continued their search operations, recovering bodies that were swept away by powerful floodwaters and carried downstream by swollen rivers.
Chitwan and Nawalparasi East are among the areas that have suffered the heaviest losses. A number of bodies have also been recovered in Gorkha, Dhading and Nuwakot after the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers burst their banks. Both rivers flow down from the Himalayan region.
Some of the recovered bodies were found downstream close to the Indian border, underscoring the extent of the devastation caused by the floods.
Foreign nationals account for a substantial portion of those still missing. India has reported that 320 of its citizens in Nepal cannot currently be contacted, making Indian nationals the largest identified group of foreigners still unaccounted for.
“As far as the number of people whom we are not able to contact or who are missing, the figure at this point in time is 320,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing on Friday, according to a statement issued by the ministry on X.
Jaiswal also said that approximately 100 people of Indian origin who could possess citizenship of other countries were still unreachable.
Indian authorities have separately confirmed the rescue of dozens of their citizens, among them 63 people employed at the Trishuli-1 hydropower project.
Across the border in China, seven people have died and another 554 are reported missing, state-run Xinhua News Agency said.
Officials warned that the missing-person figures could fluctuate as rescue and recovery teams continue their work. The disruption of electricity and communications caused by the floods has prevented authorities from making contact with many people in affected areas.
Nepali authorities said 2,301 people have so far either been rescued or received medical treatment for injuries. Most of the survivors were found in the Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts.
Police records show that 27 officers remain out of contact. At the same time, 4,811 police personnel have been sent to flood-affected areas to assist with rescue operations, maintain order and support recovery work.
Nepal has agreed to permit international search-and-rescue teams to enter the country and assist with the emergency response.
“We received massive pressure from the international community to allow at least search-and-rescue teams and some experts because their citizens have also gone missing in the floods,” an unnamed official told The Kathmandu Post.
The Independent Power Producers' Association said 934 people connected to 11 hydropower facilities damaged by the flooding remain unaccounted for, Xinhua reported.
The International Red Cross estimates that the disaster may have affected about 93,000 people, although authorities and relief organisations are continuing to assess the situation, particularly in areas that remain difficult to access.
The number of deaths and missing people is expected to change further as emergency crews reach isolated communities and communication services damaged by the floods are gradually brought back online.