Nepal flash floods: Death toll rises to 903, over 4,200 remain missing

The death toll from the flash floods that struck Nepal on August 26 has risen to 903, while 4,247 people remain missing, authorities said on Monday, August 31.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said bodies continued to be recovered from several districts, with 272 bodies recovered from Chitwan, 207 from Nawalparasi East, 151 from Nawalparasi West and 62 from Gorkha.

A further 95 bodies were recovered from Nuwakot, 55 from Dhading, 37 from Tanahu and 24 from Rasuwa, the disaster management authority said.

Among those reported missing are 99 security personnel and 591 foreign nationals, it said.

The flash floods, believed to have been triggered by the collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages across northern and central Nepal on August 26.

The Bhotekoshi River, flowing south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

The disaster also claimed 16 lives on the Chinese side, while nearly 550 people remain missing in Tibet, according to Chinese media reports.

The floods destroyed sections of the Bhotekoshi Corridor, Nepal's main land trade route with China, as well as the Rasuwagadhi border crossing connecting the two countries.

The NDRRMA on Sunday warned that water levels in the Bhotekoshi River had risen again.

Nearly 9,500 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas so far, including locals and tourists from several countries, including India, the US, China, Russia, the UK, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Malta, Turkiye, Switzerland and Portugal.

Meanwhile, hospitals in Nepal have seen large crowds searching for missing relatives as authorities increasingly focus on identifying bodies recovered from the disaster.

Photographs of missing and deceased persons have been displayed outside hospitals, with families gathering to identify their relatives.

Nepal Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said on Sunday that the remains of victims who could not be identified, including those that were unrecognisable, amputated or decomposed due to prolonged exposure to water, had been buried following standard protocols.

He also said an 18-member team of forensic experts from India specialising in DNA analysis had arrived in Nepal, with coordination between the two countries continuing.