Nepal and China report 1,384 deaths 12 days after devastating floods

Twelve days after devastating floods struck the Himalayan region, rescue teams are still searching for more than 5,500 people missing in Nepal and China's Tibet region. The combined death toll has reached 1,384.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority lowered its official death toll slightly on Sunday, from 1,344 to 1,341. Authorities attributed the change to the difficult forensic work and the ongoing counting of partial human remains recovered from the rubble.

The number of people whose whereabouts remain unknown in Nepal rose to 4,996. At least 589 foreign nationals are among the missing, including two Spaniards. Identification remains a major challenge, and the Nepalese government has so far returned only 98 bodies to their families.

In Tibet, which was also badly hit by the mud and rock avalanche on August 26, authorities reported 43 deaths and 519 missing people. Nepal has deployed 21,465 personnel from the army, police and armed forces. They have rescued or assisted 13,104 people, while 6,075 injured people have received medical care. Another 3,652 displaced people are staying in 39 temporary shelters.

Still, recent rescues have revived hopes at ground zero. On Saturday, teams pulled 64-year-old Chandrika Shrestha alive from beneath thick mud at her home in the Betrawati market in Nuwakot, after 11 days. Earlier, a Chinese citizen survived 11 days trapped in a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant in Rasuwa. Two other workers were freed on Friday after spending 10 days buried in a tunnel at the nearby Trishuli 3A plant.