Search for 5,000 missing continues 11 days after disaster

07-Sep-2026

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Rescue teams in Nepal continued to search for nearly 5,000 missing people on September 6, 11 days after devastating floods hit large parts of the country, even as authorities struggled to identify many of the dead. Nepal Police said the death toll had risen to 1,344, while more than 13,100 people had been rescued.

The disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, which sent a huge surge of water and debris down the Bhotekoshi River and devastated settlements in northern and central Nepal. Homes, vehicles, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure were swept away. On the Chinese side, at least 21 people were killed and more than 500 remained missing in Tibet, according to Chinese media reports.

Officials said identifying the dead had become a major challenge. Of the bodies recovered in Nepal, at least 85 were children, while around 500 were recovered with body parts missing. Many bodies were found after being swept far downstream and were severely damaged, decomposed or recovered only in parts, making identification difficult. Police said bodies that had remained in water and mud had been especially hard to identify.