Nepal flood death toll climbs to 626 as more than 2,400 remain missing

KATHMANDU: The death toll from catastrophic flash floods in Nepal has risen to 626, with 2,426 people still missing three days after torrents of water and debris swept through communities across the Himalayan country, disaster authorities said.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority sharply raised the number of people listed as missing, from 1,924 reported the previous night, as officials gathered information from flood-hit areas and rescue operations expanded.

Among those unaccounted for are 517 foreign nationals, while the remainder are Nepalis, according to the authority.

Rescue teams were continuing search operations on Saturday across Nepal and neighbouring Tibet, where the floods have inundated villages, damaged infrastructure and left communities cut off.

Across the affected Himalayan region, nearly 3,000 people were reported missing by Friday, while emergency teams had recovered at least 633 bodies in Nepal and Tibet combined.

The scale of the disaster has complicated rescue efforts, with teams working through devastated settlements and difficult mountainous terrain in an attempt to locate survivors several days after the floods struck.