Number of missing in Nepal floods rises to nearly 3,000 as UNICEF says 17,000 children need aid
Rescuers were battling through mud even as the threat of new floods loomed, with emergency teams recovering 633 bodies so far.
The number of people missing in Nepal and China climbed to nearly 3,000 on Saturday, underscoring the scale of the disaster days after a tsunami-like wall of water and debris swept away villages and killed hundreds
Rescuers were battling through mud even as the threat of new floods loomed, with emergency teams recovering 633 bodies so far and some of the dead reportedly swept downstream as far away as India.
The new figures came as Nepal's disaster authority added 933 hydropower workers to a missing persons list already including trekkers and pilgrims to Tibet's sacred Mount Kailash.
Relatives have crowded hospitals in Nepal's capital in a painful hunt for their loved ones, with posters on the walls bearing photos and names of the missing.
"Today is the third day and we don't know anything. Hopefully he is in a safe place," Samjhana Thing, 27, told the AFP news agency referring to her brother. "We lost everything. He is our everything."
The US Geological Survey said the disaster, the deadliest for Nepal since a 2015 earthquake, was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.
The deluge of ice and mud also caused huge lakes to form and one of these formations has become a direct threat to emergency workers scouring the region for survivors.
Nepali police urged all rescuers to "immediately move to a safe location", saying it had received information that "a water dam has burst again on the Tibetan side."
In Tibet, China was forced to suspend its rescue operation at the hardest-hit area of Gyirong over the risk of renewed flooding on Friday, before saying the threat had eased.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that a lake formed by immense piles of debris began overflowing toward where rescue teams were headed, but later said the water level of the pool had dropped.
Rescue operations were therefore "proceeding in an orderly manner", it added.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who chaired a meeting on rescue efforts, offered Beijing's help to Nepal's emergency operations.
Swept away
Emergency teams had been racing to retrieve survivors from affected zones, where the widespread devastation meant food and water supplies were running out.
The Nepali military located people trapped in the tunnel of Trishuli 3A hydropower project, where they were working to find a way in to extract the survivors.
"Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel," army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.
Some 350 workers and residents have been brought to safety from the site, he added, but efforts were ongoing to rescue more than 100 people trapped in the same area.
Workers rescued from other dam projects along the Trishuli valley described a disaster that unfolded with terrifying speed.
Buddha Tamang told AFP he survived only because he was inside a tunnel at the dam where he worked when the flood struck.
"The senior officers working on the other side, they were all swept away," Tamang, who was airlifted on Thursday after being marooned for more than 24 hours, said.
Aid trickles in
Aid began to reach some survivors in Nepal on Friday, as the full scope of the devastation continued to emerge and survivors sought shelter at makeshift army relief centres.
Children who have been separated from their families are being given shelter as attempts are made to reunite them with families.
The UN's agency for children UNICEF said at least 17,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, while 18 schools have been destroyed and another 20 damaged.
The International Red Cross estimates that at least 93,000 people have been affected and are in “great need.”
Also on Friday, the European Union promised €2 million in aid for Nepal with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen writing on X that the "immediate humanitarian aid" would help "deliver life-saving assistance to families and communities hit hardest."
Rescuers claw through mud as Nepal, China
flood missing toll nears 3,000
Bidur (Nepal) (AFP) – Rescuers in Nepal and China were battling Saturday to locate thousands of people missing days after a deadly, tsunami-like wall of water and debris swept through the Himalayan region, engulfing entire villages.
Issued on: 29/08/2026 - RFI
The latest figures from both countries put the number of missing close to 3,000, with 633 bodies recovered -- and reports of some dead possibly swept downstream as far away as India.
Rescue worker Kawan Koirala, from the Nepal Scout Disaster Response Team, said they were struggling in thick, leg-sucking mud.
"People want their want their family's body back, either dead or alive, but we cannot find them... you can see the mud," he told AFP, exhausted after an 18 hour shift.
"It is very traumatic for me too. It is my first time seeing these types of things. Everywhere is mud. We faced flood in Nepal before, but not like this."
The US Geological Survey said the disaster on Wednesday on the Tibet-Nepal border was caused by a glacial collapse that created a torrent of debris downstream.
Survivors face an agonising wait to learn the fate of missing relatives, and the prospect of rebuilding their lives from nothing.
"All the settlements near the river were swept away," Buddhi Ram Dangol told AFP in Nepal's Nuwakot district. "There is nothing left."
At Bidur's army base, a key rescue hub in the same district, relatives crowded around lists of rescued people pasted on a wall.
"I have come here looking for my son," said Kalka Sharda, scanning the list in desperation. "He was a labourer at the hydropower plant, but I can't find his name, and the authorities are not saying anything."
In an area home to vast energy infrastructure projects, Nepal's disaster authority listed 933 hydropower workers among the missing, along with 517 foreigners, including trekkers and pilgrims to Tibet's sacred Mount Kailash.
'Enormous' trauma
The trauma of Wednesday's catastrophe has been "enormous", and as many as 93,000 people may have been affected, the Red Cross said, with the death toll expected to rise.
Emergency teams worked flatout to find survivors as widespread devastation left communities short of food and water.
Fears of further flooding have compounded the search for the missing.
The deluge of ice and mud caused huge lakes, and one of these formations has become a risk of further floods.
While the exact cause of the collapse is unclear, climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of such disasters.
In Tibet, where Chinese authorities are the only source of information, Beijing had paused its rescue operation at the hardest-hit area of Gyirong over the risk of renewed flooding.
On the Nepali side, soldiers were trying desperately to drill through to 100 people trapped in the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Saturday.
The prime minister's office said teams had begun "clearing mud and debris" to open the entrance, while a specialised Indian tunnel rescue unit had arrived to help.
Workers rescued from other dam projects along the Trishuli valley described a disaster that unfolded with terrifying speed.
Pilgrimage route
Nepal reported a death toll of 626 people on Saturday.
There are 2,426 people, including hundreds of foreigners, who are out of contact in the country.
Across the border in Tibet, which is largely inaccessible to foreign journalists, seven people died and 554 remain missing, the state Xinhua news agency said Saturday.
Authorities also said they had evacuated 555 stranded tourists and 499 Chinese residents from Tibet.
In India, authorities said they had recovered seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, believed to be flood victims.
Scores of Hindu devotees from across the world are among those missing on the border, as many were on a pilgrimage to Tibet's Mount Kailash.
Sivaranjani Muthunathan was travelling by bus with 56 others towards the Chinese border when they became stuck in what they thought was a traffic jam.
Around them, vehicles were swept away or buried under mud.
"One by one, we also climbed out through the driver's side," then scrambled up a hill, she said.
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© 2026 AFP
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