Death toll from flooding in Nepal rises to 1,357
In Nepal, the death toll from massive flooding has risen to 1,357, while another 5,326 people are considered missing. The national disaster management authority reported this nearly two weeks after the disaster that occurred on August 26, Asharq Al-Awsat reports.
According to Chinese state media, 43 deaths have been confirmed in the country, while another 519 people are missing. The total number of deaths in the two countries reached 1,400, and the number of missing people reached 5,845.
Searches at hydropower facilities
The rescue operation in Nepal is continuing for the 14th day. A glacial and mountain collapse near the Chinese-Nepalese border swept away roads, bridges and residential buildings. Rescuers have focused on three hydropower projects, where, according to the disaster management authority’s assessment, workers may have remained trapped.
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Among those missing are hundreds of employees of hydropower facilities. Earlier, three people were rescued from tunnels: two Nepalese citizens on Friday and a Chinese citizen on Saturday. Dharam Raj Upreti, head of the disaster management authority, said the search and rescue operation was continuing and that rescuers hoped to find survivors at at least three sites.
Assistance and burial of the dead
Nepalese rescuers are being assisted by foreign specialists, including from China, India and South Korea. Authorities have also received reports of people who remain trapped higher up the slope.
Police said that due to overflowing morgues, hundreds of bodies were buried in mass graves in Nepal, with DNA samples taken for later identification. The exact cause of the glacial collapse has not yet been established. David Fisher, a representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, noted that access to communities isolated by flooding is complicated by narrow and dangerous routes.
