International Desk – Some 626 people have been confirmed dead and nearly 2,500 others remain missing after the devastating flood that swept through Nepal’s mountain terrains, which scientists believe was triggered by a burst of avalanche upstream.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority released the latest casualty and missing figures on Saturday, three days after the Bhotekoshi flood and subsequent downstream flooding.
The government, in its latest update issued on Saturday morning, said some 4,451 people had been rescued. According to a report by the Kathmandu Post, 101 people are being treated in hospitals for their injuries.
Rescuers were racing against time to search for survivors in the remote hills after the flooding left a trail of devastation, washing away towns, burying homes beneath mud, and destroying infrastructure along the path of the flash flood.
The government mobilised more than 15,000 security personnel, along with helicopters and other equipment, for search, rescue and relief operations.
Authorities said 616 bodies had been recovered by 6 am on Saturday. Of these, 233 were found in Chitwan district, 158 in Nawalparasi East, 40 in Gorkha, 47 in Nawalparasi West, 45 in Dhading, 41 in Nuwakot, 31 in Tanahun, and 13 in Rasuwa. The national death toll was later updated to 626 in the morning.
Local media reported that search and rescue operations are continuing across the affected districts, with police coordinating with residents and other agencies to locate missing people and assist those stranded by the floods.
Authorities are moving families from high-risk areas to safer locations and clearing roads blocked by flood debris and landslides to reopen access and facilitate relief operations.
The unprecedented flash flood struck Rasuwa and other districts in northern Nepal on Wednesday morning. A powerful surge of water and hilly debris flowed through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, sweeping away homes, bridges, roads and other infrastructure, and cutting off communities in several areas.
CNN reported, quoting Chinese state media, that seven people have been confirmed dead and 554 are missing following catastrophic flooding at Gyirong Port in Tibet. Two villagers were also rescued, it said.
The broadcaster, also quoting police, reported that authorities in the central Nepali district of Chitwan are planning to bury hundreds of unidentified bodies in a mass grave at a sacred Hindu site.
Out of 233 bodies recovered in Chitwan district, only four have been identified so far, Ganesh Aryal, Chitwan’s chief district officer, told CNN. He added that DNA samples from the bodies will be collected so that they may be identified later.
