Kathmandu: Nepal’s glacier-triggered flash floods have killed 1,204 people and left 4,216 missing, a week after an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border triggered devastating floods in northern and central regions on August 26.
Search teams, including the Nepal Army, Armed Police Force, foreign experts and hydropower workers, are continuing operations in tunnels and underground powerhouses along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by rain, debris and difficult terrain. Around 947 hydropower workers remain unaccounted for, including more than 557 at the 216-MW Upper Trishuli-1 project and 42 believed trapped at Upper Trishuli-3A.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah told Parliament that the disaster highlighted the growing risks faced by Himalayan communities due to climate change and called for stronger international accountability.
He said Nepal had accepted assistance from India, China, the US and several other countries, while the UN, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and EU have pledged support.
India has continued its humanitarian mission, with the fifth flight carrying rescue personnel and medicines arriving in flood-hit Nepal on Wednesday.
Security forces have rescued 11,993 people by air and land, while 21,314 personnel have been deployed. The floods have disrupted about 400 MW of hydropower capacity, damaged roads and 73 bridges, and prompted relocations from high-risk areas.
Nepal Police said 1,113 bodies had completed postmortem and identification procedures, with 95 handed over to relatives.
