Nine days after the floods that devastated central and northern Nepal, the authorities continue to expand the balance as they recover communications and reach the most isolated areas. Rescue teams are still searching for hundreds of workers trapped in hydroelectric tunnels, while thousands of families face the identification of the deceased and concern grows about new landslides and overflows.

First modification: 09/03/2026 - 17:55 Last modification: 09/03/2026 - 18:18

A regrettable balance that continues to grow. This Thursday, September 3, Nepal has raised the number of missing people to 5,083 and at least 1,259 deaths due to the devastating floods that hit the country on August 26. The balance, corresponding to the ninth day of search and rescue operations, has increased significantly as authorities have been able to access some of the most remote areas and partially recover communications.

In the last few hours, 867 people were added to the list of missing persons and seven to the death toll, according to the latest report from the National Authority for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management of Nepal (NDRRMA), collected by the EFE news agency.

The increase does not necessarily mean that hundreds of people have recently disappeared. To a large extent it reflects that the authorities are managing to obtain information from communities that they had not been able to reach since the floods devastated roads, bridges and communication networks.

The Rasuwa district, close to the border with China and one of the most affected, has been precisely one of the areas where the recovery of communications and access for emergency teams has allowed the figures to be updated.

So far, 12,038 people have been rescued, as authorities continue to try to establish a definitive dimension of a catastrophe that the Nepalese government has described as a “Himalayan tsunami.”

Read also “I hope I can recover his body”: Nepalis try to identify multiple victims with DNA tests

Hundreds of workers still trapped underground

One of the most urgent operations is taking place around the hydroelectric projects built in the affected mountain valleys.

“A large amount of rubble has been deposited, which represents a great challenge for us to open the tunnels”

According to data initially released by Reuters, 933 workers from 11 hydroelectric projects were missing in the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. Many of them worked in tunnels dug deep inside the mountains, which were blocked by tons of water, mud and rocks.

Rescue teams use excavators, heavy machinery, searchlights and controlled explosions to try to make their way into the galleries. In some of the operations, bodies have already been recovered after rescuers managed to partially access two tunnels.

“A large amount of rubble has been deposited, which presents a great challenge for us to open the tunnels,” explained Raja Ram Basnet, spokesman for the Nepalese Army, according to Reuters. The priority objective, he added, is to clear the accesses.

The country's geography turns these operations into a race against time. Nepalese hydroelectric plants rely on complex networks of tunnels that traverse extremely steep terrain to convey river water to power generation facilities.

Read alsoCatastrophe in Nepal: more than 1,200 confirmed deaths; They organize symbolic funerals for thousands of missing people

Thousands of families still searching for their missing

The dimension of the tragedy is also reflected in the difficulties in identifying the deceased.

Of the more than 1,200 bodies recovered, only 95 had been able to be returned to their families, according to the NDRRMA. Many bodies were carried by the current over long distances and others were provisionally buried in shallow graves due to the risk of decomposition and the logistical difficulties in moving them.

Nepal Police have asked relatives of missing people to provide blood samples and DNA profiles to speed up the identification of the bodies.

The recovery of telecommunications is also allowing authorities to gradually reconstruct the real number of victims in communities that remained incommunicado for days.

The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people could have been affected by the disaster.

Read alsoReport from Devighat: missing people increase to 4,700 while rescue efforts are accelerated

At least 583 foreigners are still missing

The tragedy also has an international dimension. Among the people whose whereabouts remain unknown are 583 foreign citizens, including two Spaniards, according to the latest balance from the Nepalese authorities released by EFE.

In the first days of the disaster, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had reported that some 590 foreigners from 39 countries remained missing and that more than 10,000 people had been rescued, including 323 foreigners.

The balance is still subject to review as communications are reestablished and information is obtained from new affected locations.

The international magnitude of the disaster also extends to the other side of the border. In Chinese Tibet, authorities report 21 deaths and 541 people still unaccounted for, according to the most recent balance.

Beijing had previously reported that 261 foreign citizens from 23 countries were missing in Tibet, near one of the main border crossings with Nepal. In addition, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guo Jiakun, noted that the authorities had not been able to contact almost a hundred Chinese citizens who were in Nepalese territory.

Read also "Today is the last day": the search for hundreds of missing people in Nepal enters a critical phase

China reinforces response and calls for more vigilance

The magnitude of the emergency also led the Chinese Government to address the crisis in a cabinet meeting.

According to state television CCTV, a cabinet meeting urged redoubled efforts to locate the missing, disseminate reliable information, manage hidden risks and dangers, and improve emergency response capabilities.

China has also linked the disaster to the growing instability of glaciers associated with global warming.

The hypothesis shared by authorities is that the collapse of a glacier unleashed a huge mass of water, ice, rocks and sediment that descended through the valleys of the Himalayas, causing a succession of floods and landslides.

The Chinese state broadcaster has also warned that the glaciers located around the crater generated by the collapse continue to present a risk of new landslides. Drone images have shown numerous landslide deposits on river banks, with the potential to cause new blockages and form lakes that could subsequently overflow.

Read also Information veto after the catastrophe?: HRW accuses China of "censorship and control" over the flood in Tibet

The risk is not over

Rescue efforts have been interrupted on several occasions due to bad weather and fear of new landslides or overflows.

One of the greatest risks comes from the lakes formed as a result of landslides and the blocking of channels. An eventual overflow could send new masses of water into Nepalese rivers and aggravate the situation in areas that have already suffered significant damage.

Therefore, emergency teams not only have to search for survivors in the rubble, but also continually evaluate the stability of slopes, glaciers and waterways.

Nepal has said it does not need foreign assistance for general search and rescue operations, but has turned to India and China for specific expertise in tunnel operations.

The concentration of missing workers in hydroelectric projects highlights the importance that these facilities have acquired for Nepal.

Since the beginning of the century, the country has strongly promoted the construction of power plants to take advantage of its enormous hydroelectric potential and reduce its historical energy shortage. Nepal also aims to increase electricity exports to India.

But the characteristics of the Himalayas require tunnels and other infrastructure to be built in some of the most complex terrain on the planet. Precisely those galleries have now become potentially deadly traps.

The floods have caused severe damage to hydroelectric plants and other infrastructure, as well as destroying homes, roads and bridges in many districts.

Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah has described the disaster as an “unprecedented and devastating natural disaster” and has warned that a full assessment of the damage is still difficult.

Read also “We cannot believe that everything has disappeared”: Nepal searches for hundreds of people after gigantic avalanche

An emergency still far from over; the climate explanation gains weight

Although research into the immediate causes continues, the link between the catastrophe and the evolution of the climate occupies a central place in the explanations offered by China and experts in the region.

Beijing has attributed the flooding to glacial instability caused by the long-term effects of global warming. The melting and transformation of Himalayan glaciers increases the possibility of sudden landslides and alterations of high mountain lake and river systems.

The disaster thus once again highlights the vulnerability of the populations settled in the valleys of the Himalayas to extreme phenomena.

But it also opens a debate on regional preparation. Nepali officials cited by Reuters have expressed concern about information sharing with China on glacier risks and water levels. According to these officials, the lack of shared data could make it difficult to prepare for future emergencies.

China, for its part, has rejected that interpretation and says it has continuously provided Nepal with meteorological and hydrological data and will continue to support humanitarian efforts.

Nine days after the floods, Nepal still does not know the definitive dimension of the tragedy. The official toll now exceeds 5,000 missing and 1,200 dead, but both figures may continue to increase as teams reach new communities and the affected population records are reconstructed.

The immediate priority remains locating those who remain trapped, especially in the hydroelectric tunnels, and recovering and identifying the bodies.

But the emergency also raises a broader question: how to prepare for a Himalaya subjected to increasing climatic and geological instability.

For now, thousands of families are still waiting for news of their loved ones. And under the tons of mud, rock and water that cover some of Nepal's tunnels, rescue teams continue to search for signs of life.

Read alsoFrom the US to Australia: who are the missing people after the avalanche between Nepal and Tibet?

With Reuters and EFE

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.