Death toll from Nepal-China floods tops 1,000, around 4,500 still missing

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Nepal and China has surpassed 1,000 as rescue teams work to reach communities cut off by the disaster.

Nepal’s disaster agency said on Tuesday that 987 deaths had been recorded in the country, while Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths in Tibet in their latest update on Sunday.

The combined death toll now stands at 1,003, while 4,462 people remain missing across the two countries.

In Nepal, the number of missing people fell to 3,916 as rescue efforts entered their seventh day, while 546 people were reported missing in China.

Foreign nationals among missing

The missing in Nepal include 583 foreigners from more than 30 nationalities, according to the disaster authority.

China has reported 261 foreign nationals among those missing, according to state media.

Indians account for one of the largest groups of missing foreigners. New Delhi said 275 Indian citizens and 128 people of Indian origin were missing in Nepal.

The US State Department said on Sunday that 85 US citizens were missing.

Reports citing Nepal’s tourism board and foreign embassies said 62 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 42 Australians and 33 British nationals were also missing.

Glacial collapse triggered floods

The disaster began on Wednesday with a chain of events high in the Himalayas, when a glacial collapse sent large amounts of rock, ice and meltwater into valleys below, triggering powerful floods downstream.

Scientists studying satellite imagery said the collapse appeared to involve the failure of bedrock beneath a glacier in the Himalayan region. The rockfall was powerful enough to register as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event.

In neighbouring India, authorities in Uttar Pradesh said they had recovered 17 bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal that were believed to belong to flood victims.

Indian authorities are working to identify the bodies, which have not been included in the overall death toll.