Nepal flood toll reaches 675; 2,498 missing
Nepal authorities are still counting the damage from the August 26 Bhote Koshi flash floods. India says it has rescued 108 nationals and sent 68.5 tonnes of relief material.
The Bhote Koshi flood damage assessment remains under way.
Nepal authorities have reported 675 deaths and 2,498 people missing after flash floods hit the Bhote Koshi River area on August 26. The figures, attributed to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, are not final: Nepal’s Home Ministry says the damage assessment is still under way. An earlier update had put the number unaccounted for at 2,426, without explaining the difference.
The flood struck Rasuwa district at 8:40 a.m. and affected riverbank areas in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Gorkha, according to Nepal’s Home Ministry. Nepal’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says the cause has not yet been fully determined. The Department of Tourism separately reported 753 tourists out of contact as of 5:30 p.m. on August 29, including 589 foreign nationals. That figure remains an authority-attributed update, not a final count.
India says it has rescued 108 nationals, restored contact with about 50 others and sent 68.5 tonnes of relief material. A fourth flight carried 11 tonnes of equipment and supplies, while 16 trucks carrying parts for a 230-foot modular steel bridge reached Nepal. More than 275 Indian nationals and 128 persons of Indian origin remain missing or uncontactable, according to figures attributed to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The flood is still being counted; official certainty, apparently, is waiting for the water to recede.