Nepal Border Flood Death Toll Rises to 359 as More Than 1,000 Go Missing
Nepalese authorities say the death toll from severe flooding in the country’s border areas with China has risen to 359, with more than 1,000 others still missing.
Reuters reported that helicopters have been deployed to search for survivors and deliver urgent aid to thousands of people stranded in towns and valleys across the affected areas.
Local media also reported the death toll as 359. According to those reports, dozens of bodies were carried by floodwaters into flat areas, and efforts to recover and identify them are continuing.
Nepal’s Interior Minister Sudan Gurung said the main focus of the operation remains finding survivors. At the same time, rescue teams in the heavily affected Trishuli region have found 100 Indian citizens, mostly pilgrims, and 25 Chinese workers who had previously been reported missing.
However, more than 650 foreign nationals are still listed as missing, and Nepalese authorities have yet to determine an exact count of missing citizens.
The Red Cross said the disaster has destroyed villages and that road closures and bridge damage have made it difficult for many local communities to access humanitarian aid. It added that the full scale of the catastrophe is still not clear.
Trishuli is among Nepal’s mountainous and disaster-prone areas, and floods in such regions usually make relief efforts and access to remote areas extremely difficult.
