Here's the latest
• Rescue efforts: A search is underway for more than 900 missing workers at various hydropower projects in Nepal after Wednesday’s catastrophic flooding. Crews pumped air and dropped food into one tunnel but have yet to establish communication with anyone inside.
• Devastating toll: Local police say at least 788 people have died in Nepal, while Chinese authorities have reported at least 16 deaths. An estimated 3,000 people are missing across both countries, including foreign nationals. About 85 Americans are unaccounted for, a US State Department spokesperson said.
• Survivors find little left behind: Nepali residents are searching for belongings and mementos in ruined villages. “I feel so alone,” said one young woman who lost 17 relatives in the disaster.
• Fresh flooding risk: A landslide detected Saturday evening created a new barrier lake on a river near the disaster zone, prompting the evacuation of rescuers in China, state media reports.
Nearly 200 unidentified bodies buried in woodland as freezers run low, Nepali police say
Officials in southern Nepal were forced to lay 199 unidentified bodies to rest in the middle of a forest over recent days, according to police, after medical stocks to preserve the remains for DNA testing dwindled.
In total, rescue crews had recovered 272 unidentified bodies originating from Tibet, an autonomous region of China, following lethal torrents in the Himalayan region that washed away entire villages and sank towns under debris and mud.
The remains swept south down toward Chitwan, a district in Nepal that borders India, a local police inspector, Anil Thapa, told CNN on Sunday. Emergency workers retrieved the dozens of bodies along the riverbanks of southern plains.
“Bodies are still being recovered. But we want to manage those dead bodies to avoid the risk of fast decomposition,” said Thapa. The lack of DNA collection equipment ultimately delayed the burial process, he added.
Paramedics have been searching landslide-stricken neighborhoods for days, with Nepal’s government bringing in international assistance to beef up operations on the ground. Earlier on Sunday, a police official in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, warned that mud-filled sludge was hampering rescue work, telling China’s state broadcaster CCTV that heavy rainfall was adding to the quagmire.
CNN’s Jared Formanek contributed reporting.
Massachusetts man who flew to Nepal to search for his missing wife is joined by friend
Some Americans who have loved ones missing after disastrous flooding in India and Nepal have found it too difficult to remain home while their friends and family remain unaccounted for.
Sanjeev Rai traveled to Nepal from his home in Lexington, Massachusetts, to try to find his wife, Jyoti Rai, who, according to CNN affiliate WCVB, was in Nepal on a spiritual pilgrimage for her 50th birthday when the floods hit.
Family friend Manmeet Singh Meet flew out Saturday to join him in the search, WCVB reported.
“He’s overwhelmed. You call him and you can hear him crying,” Singh Meet told the station.
He said it is the least he could do for his friend of over 15 years.
“There are relationships beyond love, beyond friendship. Sometimes, you are so well connected with each other, with your families and everything. There are no ifs and buts. You don’t think twice. You just go and you know you’re there for each other.”
At least 85 Americans are among those unaccounted for in the disaster as of Sunday morning, the US State Department said.
Italian flood survivors blame climate change and express sympathy for Nepalis
An Italian couple who survived the flood in Nepal said that they believe climate change was to blame for the disaster.
“For me, it was a clear message from nature that we passed a limit,” 37-year-old Valentina Piccinini said.
“We don’t respect the nature,” her partner Stefano Lutumolo, 39, said. “This what’s gonna happen, it’s gonna be more and more.”
“We are already too late, maybe,” he added.
The couple was on a trekking tour at the border crossing between China and Nepal, and only survived because their local tour guide Tashi Tamang got them up the hill to safety in time.
Lutumolo said they spent a night huddled on the mountains with local survivors, waiting for rescue.
“There were no difference between Italians, Nepali. We were just human beings, survivor,” he added. “(The Nepalis) lost everything, people, houses. They had nothing left.”
Some context: Scientists are still determining the exact causes of the devastating flooding, and say there is still work to be done to establish exactly what happened and what made the flooding so deadly.
We do know so far that the disaster began when a vast chunk of glacier sheared off a mountainside.
At least 85 Americans among those unaccounted for in Nepal-China floods, US official says
Americans are among the more than 3,000 people missing across China and Nepal after Wednesday’s catastrophic flooding, the US State Department said Sunday morning.
“As of 6 a.m. this morning, I can say we now have 85 Americans, approximately, that are unaccounted for,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on ABC. “We’ve also now seen nine Americans be safely evacuated.”
There are no reports of U.S. citizen deaths, Pigott said but noted the remoteness of the area makes getting reliable intelligence difficult.
“The highest priority, getting accurate information from the region, a hard region to reach at the best of times, made even more so by the devastation and the remoteness that we see,” Pigott said, explaining the fluctuation in numbers as the tragedy has unfolded.
Displaced survivors face threat of renewed flooding as water levels rise. Catch up
The death toll from last week’s flooding along the Nepal-China border has risen to nearly 790, local police reported on Sunday, as more firsthand accounts from survivors and emergency crews emerge.
Nepal’s government has deployed international assistance to strengthen rescue operations, with the full scale of destruction still unknown.
Here’s what you need to know:
Unpredictable conditions
- Rising water levels: The flow of water in the Bhote Koshi River, a debris-choked stream in Rasuwa, northern Nepal, was increasing early Sunday local time, regional authorities said. On Saturday, a separate landslide formed a new barrier lake on a river near the China-Nepal border. Weather officials have warned that newly formed bodies of water could raise the risk of renewed torrents.
Rescue and relief efforts
- Missing industrial workers: A search is underway for more than 900 missing workers at various hydropower projects in Nepal, and we’re learning more about the harrowing stories of those who escaped. Loved ones told CNN they are clinging to hope as they await updates on the missing. Abhishek Khatiwada said he and his loved ones “remain hopeful and are praying for their safe return.”
- Clean water shortages: Residents in Nepal need clean water to prevent the spread of disease, according to a senior relief worker, who cited the risk of outbreak from “decayed bodies and animals.” In the short term, families must be able to access electricity and essential supplies, said Sudarshan Neupane, the country director of WaterAid Nepal.
Survivors’ stories
- Woman in Nepal mourns 17 relatives: Kopila Tamang, a 20-year-old resident in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, described trying to care for her seven-year-old brother after their mother, sister, grandmother and 14 other relatives were killed by the colossal landslides. “I feel so alone,” Tamang told CNN.
- “Father where are you?”: Further north, in Devighat, Sumit Nepal was rooting through his home to find mementos of his missing father — 42-year-old Navaraj — who is one of thousands of people missing. Layers of mud have covered his family home, with clothes, food packets and plush toys strewn about. “There was nothing left,” Nepal told CNN.
CNN’s Bhadra Sharma, Laura Sharman, Rebecca Wright, Will Ripley, John Mees and Kosh Raj Koirala contributed reporting.
Police in Nepal say at least 788 people now confirmed dead
At least 788 people have been killed in Nepal following huge torrents along the Nepal-China border on Wednesday, according to local police.
As of Sunday evening local time, 2,742 people had been injured, Nepal Police said.
Poster wall at Kathmandu hospital shows missing people, and the number is growing
At the T.U. Teaching Hospital in the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, the wall outside is now covered with hundreds of posters of missing people — a haunting reminder of the immense scale of the flooding disaster.
As of Sunday afternoon local time, more than 2,000 names of those missing have been registered, according to police at the help desk outside the hospital.
Families have been flying into Kathmandu from around the world to try to ramp up the search for their relatives.
A CNN team on the ground witnessed how the wall was so tightly packed with photos – that some people had to scale it to find space to add their posters.
Death toll in Nepal from floods and landslides climbs above 760
The death toll from severe flooding along the Nepal-China border on Wednesday has climbed to 762 in Nepal, local police said, as rescue crews scour devastated neighborhoods for survivors.
As of Sunday afternoon local time, 2,715 people had been injured, Nepali police said.
In pictures: Aftermath of flooding in Nepal, as death toll passes 700
Nepali flood survivors have begun returning to mud-covered homes to search for their belongings
Meanwhile, as we’ve been reporting today, relatives of those missing are still desperately searching for updates on their loved ones.
Here are some of the latest images from Nepal.
Families of engineers trapped in tunnel share their last known whereabouts
Relatives of people believed trapped in a tunnel at one of several hydropower plants hit in the China-Nepal border floods on Wednesday remain hopeful of positive news.
Two of those still missing, mechanical engineers Rajendra Dhakal and Aavash Neupane, were last seen at the Trishuli-3A site in Nepal, where rescuers have worked through the night.
The pair are among more than 930 workers unaccounted for at various hydropower projects in the country’s flood zone.
Neupane’s cousin Sadikshya Pandey was at work when she learnt he was missing.
“On my break I was scrolling through my phone and saw devastating news,” she told CNN.
“My sister tried to ring him around 10am. The number said out of reach and she tried again around 11am and the phone was switched off.”
The family believes Neupane was working at his office when disaster struck and are still optimistic for his return. “Families are losing hope but I still believe my cousin is out there awaiting help. I wish he come back home soon and safe,” Pandey added.
Abhishek Khatiwada believes his missing cousin, Rajendra Dhakal, is also inside the project’s tunnel network –– which stretches more than four kilometers, according to documents from the Nepal Electricity Authority.
“As of now, Rajendra is still out of contact and we believe he is inside the tunnel along with 35 plus other human lives,” Khatiwada told CNN.
“The authorities are making every possible effort to excavate the tunnel and are trying different approaches to reach them. I, along with all our family members, remain hopeful and are praying for their safe rescue.”
"I feel so lost": Woman in Nepal loses 17 family members in flooding
Kopila Tamang’s family survived the devastating Nepal earthquake in 2015, but their home was destroyed.
This time, the floods took a newly-built house along with 17 members of her family.
“I feel so alone,” Tamang tells CNN. “I feel so lost.”
Tamang – who is from one of the worst-hit areas in Rasuwa – was in Kathmandu when the flooding hit, and rushed back to the mountains when she heard what happened.
The 20-year-old lost her mother, sister and grandmother – along with other relatives including a one-month old nephew. Now, all she has left are the photos of them on her phone.
Her seven-year-old brother is too young to understand what happened, she said, and still believes their mother will return.
“He’s so little,” she said. “He thinks she will come back.”
“Now, I am the mother for him, so I have to be strong,” she said.
Her cousin, 17-year-old Subba Tamang, lost his two little sisters, one-year-old Anjana and five-year-old Archana.
“It’s really hard to believe that I lost my siblings,” he said. “They are buried too young.”
He is now sleeping on a rooftop of an unfinished building in Bidur, with 50 other displaced men and boys.
“Many people cry here at night, remembering their family members,” he said. “It’s very hard to sleep here.”
Along with the overwhelming grief, the displaced families are also living in fear of another flood, and at nights they often flee up higher into the forest when they hear warnings that more floods are coming.
"I only have the clothes I'm wearing," Nepal resident in shelter says
Alongside the Trishuli River in the town of Bidur, 40 homes from one riverside community were washed away in Wednesday’s catastrophic flooding.
The 200 people living there managed to run up the hill to safety, with minutes to spare. But now they face an uncertain future.
One of those made homeless, 39-year-old Ganga Maya Tamang, is now living in a makeshift shelter on higher ground.
“We lost everything in the flood,” Tamang told CNN. “I only have the clothes I’m wearing.”
Around 100 women and children are staying in a building normally used as a yoga center, repurposing the yoga mats to sleep on.
Under the constant churn of relief helicopters from overhead, the families in this community are now reliant on aid arriving from the capital Kathmandu to survive.
The water system in Bidur was completely destroyed, so they are collecting water in buckets and bottles from truck deliveries.
Landslide forms new barrier lake near China-Nepal border
A landslide yesterday formed a new barrier lake on a river near the China-Nepal border, prompting rescue personnel near the Gyirong Port to evacuate, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
A monitoring drone detected the landslide on a mountain slope about 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) downstream from an existing barrier lake on the Purepu Tsangpo River, according to China’s Ministry of Emergency Management.
The latest landslide created a new blockage in the river and formed another barrier lake, authorities said.
Flood death toll rises again, Nepali agency says
The death toll from the massive floods unleashed in Nepal on Wednesday has risen to 752, according to Nepali authorities, with 2,502 people still missing.
The country’s disaster risk reduction agency said today hat nearly 20,000 security personnel had been mobilized for rescue efforts, and so far 8,730 people had been rescued.
Earlier, Chinese authorities confirmed at least 16 people had died on in the Tibet region, with 546 people missing, which includes 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries. The Tibet Autonomous Region government said 104 are Nepali, and there are also 49 unaccounted for from India, 33 from Latvia, 18 from the US and 15 from the UK.
Family searches for keepsakes in mud-filled Nepal home after floods
Family photos, spiritual statues, and reminders of his missing father: These are some of the things Sumit Nepal hoped to find when he returned to his home in Devighat searching for anything salvageable among the mud and debris that engulfed much of the village.
“But there was nothing left,” Nepal told CNN.
His father Navaraj, 42, remains missing. His last known whereabouts was meters from the China-Nepal border crossing that was engulfed in flood water earlier this week.
“Father where are you? Please be safe and contact us,” he said.
For now, all he has to remember his home in happier times is a photo of him and his father standing by the front door on a sunny day and another of him with his mother, inside on the stairs.
People cut off by flood damage in urgent need of clean water: WaterAid director
People cut off by flood damage in Nepal are in urgent need of clean water to prevent disease spread, according to an aid chief who raised concerns of damaged pipes and contaminated drinking sources.
“The biggest concern is that dirty water can spread disease, so people need clean water for drinking and washing as quickly as possible, alongside urgent help for those still stranded,” Sudarshan Neupane, country director of WaterAid Nepal, told CNN on Sunday.
“Besides, there is a real danger of disease outbreak from the decayed bodies and animals, as we have seen in other disasters.”
The immediate priorities are to rescue those still trapped, get clean water and essential supplies to affected families and restore electricity and water connections, Neupane said.
In the longer term, national and international financing is needed “to repair and strengthen damaged water systems, help communities prepare for future floods and reduce the risk of disease,” he added.
The latest on flood rescue efforts at the Nepal-China border, as death toll climbs
We’ve been continuing to report on search and rescue efforts after Wednesday’s deadly flooding near the Nepal-China border.
Survivors have begun returning to mud-caked homes to search for their belongings as relatives of those missing are still desperately searching for updates on their loved ones.
Here’s what we know so far:
- Death toll climbs: At least 750 people have died in the disaster. In China, 16 people were killed and 546 people are missing, according to authorities on Sunday local time. Chinese officials added that no more survivors have been found yet. Eighteen Americans are among the at least 261 foreigners missing in China. In Nepal, at least 734 died with 2,498 missing.
- Rescue efforts: Rescuers have been using heavy equipment to clear debris in tunnels at hydropower projects along the Trishuli river, where about 900 employees are still missing. They have pumped air and sent food through holes bored into the tunnels.
- New barrier lake: A landslide on Saturday evening created another barrier lake near the Nepal-China border, prompting the evacuation of rescue personnel near Gyirong Port, Chinese state media reported.
- US aid: The State Department said the United States is providing $3.6 million of humanitarian aid to Nepal, up from the $500,000 it announced earlier. It includes emergency food assistance for up to 10,000 flood-affected households, the State Department said.
- Victims’ burial: Workers are preparing a mass burial site in Nepal’s Chitwan region. Footage from a CNN team on the ground showed workers in hazmat suits placing body bags into the back of a van.
American tourist says visa denial “saved my life,” after close call with floods
An American citizen said he feels “super happy and lucky to be alive” after he narrowly avoided the flash floods in Nepal.
47-year-old Roman Shteynshlyuger is now in the US after returning from Nepal, where he was supposed to join a trekking tour to Tibet. He said he dropped out of the tour after his Chinese visa was denied.
Shteynshlyuger went to hike Everest Base Camp instead, then flew to the US. He joined a party for his mother’s 70th birthday in Brooklyn on Saturday, and said he felt “unimaginable joy and happiness to be here.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t there, but I feel sad for the families,” he said. “It was shocking.”
He had been on a list of “missing” American passport holders in the flood, but he has now informed the authorities that he is safe.
In an email seen by CNN, Nepal Tourist Police responded saying “we are so glad to hear this news,” adding “have a great and prosperous life ahead.”
Shteynshlyuger moved to the US from Ukraine in 1991, and has been living in Puerto Rico in 2020. His family lives in Brooklyn.
13-year-old Nepali who escaped floods on school bus: "The water was chasing us"
A 13-year-old Nepali girl told CNN she was nearly washed away by the floods as she rode on her school bus to safety.
“At first, the teachers knew that a big flood was coming,” 13-year-old Rojina Bhatta said. “They instructed us to leave the school and go to a safe location.”
The driver “drove extremely fast” and got them to safety, she said, after picking up some other students on the way.
“The water was chasing us,” Rojina recounted. “Everyone on the bus was scared and crying.”
Her school, Trishuli High School, was completely washed away in the flood. But the driver managed to save around 50 children on the bus.
“When I recall that terrifying moment, I still get scared,” she said.
Bhatta’s father, Rajendra Bhatta, witnessed the flooding from near their home in Bidur, seeing dozens of homes washed away, along with a bridge and a newly-built road.
“The water in the river was roaring as if it were flying,” 38-year-old Bhatta said. “I saw it jumping into the sky.”
“Not just me, but my father and grandfather also never witnessed such a devastating flood in their lifetimes,” he said.
Bhatta has 30 buffalo across the river, which he now can’t access due to the bridges being destroyed. But he’s just grateful his family survived.
Chinese officials list nationalities of foreigners missing in Tibet after flooding
For the first time, Chinese authorities on Sunday provided a breakdown of the nationalities of foreigners missing in the Tibet region following the flooding disaster on the Nepal-China border.
261 foreign nationals from 23 countries are missing:
- 104 from Nepal
- 49 from India
- 33 from Latvia
- 18 from the United States
- 15 from the United Kingdom
- 6 each from Canada and Australia
- 4 from South Africa
- 3 each from Russia, Malaysia and Germany
- 2 each from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Estonia, France and Ireland
- 1 each from Finland, Lithuania, Portugal, Ukraine, Spain, Hungary and Kazakhstan
