A woman looks on as she stands near a damaged house at the site of a flashflood at a village in Kishtwar district on August 15, 2025. Indian rescuers pulled bodies from mud and rubble August 15 after the latest deadly flood to crash through a Himalayan village killed at least 60 people and washed away dozens more.
Mir Imran/AFP
The number of people missing in the catastrophic floods that sliced through the border area between Nepal and China exceeded 3,000 on Sunday, as rescuers searched for survivors.
Here are the latest developments after the tsunami-like disaster that struck the Himalayan region on Wednesday:
Figures from Nepal and from Chinese authorities in charge of Tibet put the total number of missing at 3,048, with 797 confirmed deaths.
Nepal said there are 2,502 people, including 592 foreigners, who are out of contact in the country. It reported an updated death toll of 781 people on Sunday.
Tibet, an autonomous region of China, was largely inaccessible to foreign journalists, preventing independent reporting on the scale of the disaster.
China's state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday that 546 people were missing and 16 people had been killed.
Of those missing, 261 were foreign nationals, it said.
More than 100 workers are believed to be trapped inside multiple hydropower tunnels.
The Nepali army inserted a pipe into one of the tunnels at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site late on Saturday and started sending air through it.
The energy ministry said on Sunday that rescue teams had drilled, dug and used explosives to open four holes into the tunnel before rescuers descended by rope.
They are now working to ascertain the "condition, location, and safety status of the people trapped inside", the ministry said.
Overnight rain and rising river waters had earlier hampered rescue efforts at that site.
Those trapped were among 933 missing workers from hydropower projects on the rivers where the torrent of icy debris swept down.
Specialised teams from India, China and South Korea have joined the rescue efforts.
Hampering rescue operations on Sunday was the formation of a new lake near the Tibet border following a landslide 2.8 kilometres (1.74 miles) from a drained lake that in previous days had threatened rescue work.
After the landslide "a new barrier lake is now forming", state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday.
Rescue personnel near the Gyirong border port had been moved to safer areas while the Ministry of Emergency Management convened experts to assess and analyse the situation, CCTV said.
China's Xinhua state news agency said later on Sunday telephone communication had been established with the main rescue site at Gyirong Port.
Nepal's reconstruction bill could run into "billions of dollars", Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said.
"We will do loss and damage research and then we plan, but I am reaching out to our international community for support."
Distraught families in Nepal sought to identify missing relatives from grisly images, while others crowded around lists of the rescued at an army base in the town of Bidur.
Nepal began burying some of the victims on Sunday after taking DNA samples to enable later identification.
The Australian parents of a woman reported missing in devastating floods that struck Nepal said Sunday they were "elated" and relieved after their daughter was found safe and sound.
Cara Severino, 24, was found "safe and well" on Friday, her parents said.
Among those not accounted for are 42 Australians, many of whom were pilgrims visiting holy sites.
While the exact cause of the collapse is unclear, Nepal's foreign minister warned on Saturday of the growing threat from climate change in the Himalayas.
The US Geological Survey said the disaster on Wednesday near the high-altitude China-Nepal border was caused by a glacial collapse that sent a torrent of debris downstream.
China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that experts had said "a glacier on the southern slope of Lirung Peak in Nepal" fractured, triggering an ice-rock avalanche.
"The sudden glacial collapse and flash flood is a devastating reminder of how fragile these mountain environments can be," UN climate chief Simon Stiell said in a statement.
As many as 93,000 people in Nepal are potentially affected by the disaster, according to the Red Cross.
Nepal appealed on Saturday for international financial assistance, as well as specialised rescue support, including heavy-lift drones, DNA testing kits and body freezer storage units.
The United States and Canada said they would each provide around $3.6 million in humanitarian assistance.
The UK has offered $6.8 million in aid, while the UN released $2.5 million in emergency funding.
The European Union on Friday promised $2.3 million and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) allocated more than $1 million and launched an emergency appeal for $31 million.
Malaysia will send the Malaysian Special Search and Rescue Team (SMART) to assist and will also contribute $1 million to Nepal to help the recovery efforts and victims.
