Overview
- A large rock and glacier broke away and sent flash floods through valleys on Wednesday, triggering debris flows that struck Nepal’s Rasuwa district and neighbouring Tibetan valleys.
- Official confirmed deaths have climbed into the 600s with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reporting 626 fatalities while some counts rise to about 633, and nearly 3,000 people are now listed as missing across Nepal and Tibet.
- The Nepal Army rescued 350 people from the Upper Trishuli hydropower tunnel but more than 100 people are still believed trapped and searches are repeatedly paused because of a debris-formed barrier lake, ongoing heavy rain and thick mud.
- Hundreds of bodies have been recovered in advanced decomposition, local mortuaries are overwhelmed and authorities are collecting DNA samples to identify the dead because visual ID is often impossible.
- Roads, bridges and phone and power lines were destroyed across the region, tens of thousands of people are affected and the government says it needs specialist help for tunnel rescues, forensic DNA work and rapid infrastructure restoration to begin reconstruction.