Here's the latest
• Missing toll spikes: The number of missing people in Nepal has risen sharply following last week’s catastrophic floods, with more than 4,200 unaccounted for by authorities — up from about 2,500 a day ago. When figures from China are included, the total death toll now stands at 919, with 4,793 missing on both sides of the border.
• Tunnel searches: Nepali authorities say the search for workers who could be trapped inside hydropower tunnels is now the “highest priority.” More than 900 workers at various projects are missing.
• Risks remain: China flagged eight “high-risk geological disaster points” for intensive monitoring at the disaster-hit Gyirong Port. It also warned of rain and poor weather conditions in the area, which could cause water levels in a nearby barrier lake to rise.
Chinese officials forecast risk of glacier collapse near flood zone
Steadily overflowing pools of water in Nepal mean glaciers surrounding an impact crater have the “potential to collapse,” according to Chinese media, just days after deadly torrents killed hundreds of people in the Himalayan region.
Small areas of “standing water” situated about 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles) downstream of a mountainside impact crater formed by a glacial collapse on Wednesday that sparked the floods are all “in a state of overflow,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday, citing the country’s Ministry of Water Resources.
On another river in the vicinity, which has been a point of focus due to the formation of a barrier lake there on Wednesday, the ministry noted “multiple landslide barriers” of various sizes overflowing on both sides of the riverbank, CCTV said. “There is a risk that the collapse of the landslide barriers could form a new landslide-dammed lake,” the broadcaster added.
Emergency relief teams in Nepal and China have been battered by heavy rainfall, with new water formations exacerbating the threat of another lethal torrent. Earlier on Sunday, a specialized team near the border raised the alarm over “high-risk geological disaster points,” after lake formations paused time-sensitive rescue operations last week.
Relatives of missing people in Nepal asked to provide DNA to help identify bodies
The relatives of people missing after the devastating flooding in Nepal have been asked to provide DNA to help identify recovered remains.
The parents and children of those unaccounted for have been asked to send their DNA to Nepal Police, alongside information about the missing person, including the time and place they were last seen.
People who live outside of Nepal that have missing relatives there have been asked to undergo DNA profiling in their home country and email their results to Nepal Police.
Some context: The number of missing people in Nepal has risen to 4,247, including 592 foreign nationals, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in its latest update. This is a sharp increase on yesterday, when 2,502 people were reported missing.
A closer look at hydropower plants, as rescuers race to find flood survivors
The Himalayan landmass, where last week’s deadly flooding in Nepal and China took place, rises from shifting fault lines and is sliced by mighty rivers that are fed by glaciers.
It’s one of the most ecologically and seismically sensitive regions in the world, but the potential to tame its rivers into major hydropower projects has long enticed engineers.
Chinese advances in dam-building technology in recent years and a race to electrify with clean energy and cut off coal –– as well as a simmering, high-altitude China-India border feud –– have driven change in the region.
China’s new megadam project on Tibet’s Yarlung Tsangpo river, which broke ground last July, is one of what researchers say are dozens of hydropower projects across Tibet. The project is expected to generate more electricity than any other in the world, leveraging a 2,000-meter altitude drop by blasting tunnels through a mountain.
Meanwhile, India’s largest state-backed hydropower firm is pushing forward its own high-altitude hydropower megaproject –– a 11,200-megawatt dam, downstream from China’s. In recent years, New Delhi has debuted ambitious new tunnels and railways cutting through mountain passes that too could enable Himalayan deployment of military and other resources.
Nepal has, meantime, also been increasing hydropower buildout along Himalayan rivers, at times with financing from its two larger neighbors as they compete for influence.
Experts say the realities of construction –– blasting through rock with dynamite, pouring concrete into natural landforms and storing water in reservoirs –– could have unintended effects.
Landslides, debris flows and glacial lake outburst floods are all features of the area that are becoming more unpredictable with climate change. They also have the potential to put people nearby at risk or damage infrastructure if a project can’t cope.
Mourners bury their loved ones as rescue efforts continue
As emergency workers continue to search for thousands of people who are unaccounted for following last week’s floods in Nepal and China, the families of those killed in the catastrophe are burying their loved ones.
Here are some of the latest images from the ground:
Conditions hamper relief and rebuilding efforts, as number of people missing rises
The number of people confirmed killed after propulsive landslides tore through the Nepal-China border on Wednesday now exceeds 900.
Officials in both nations have supercharged relief efforts in the Himalayan region — where rapidly warming conditions worsened by multiple factors, including the human-caused climate crisis have elevated the risk of glacier collapses and made life for local communities even more unpredictable.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Missing number spikes: The number of missing people in Nepal rose to 4,247, including 592 foreign nationals, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in its latest update. This is a sharp increase on yesterday, when 2,502 people were reported to be unaccounted for.
- Death toll climbs: The death toll has reached 903, Nepal’s disaster authority said today, from 788 previously recorded. The death toll in China was 16 as of Sunday.
- Specialized response efforts: Nepal’s government has ramped up emergency personnel by about 20,000 staffers, a Nepali lawmaker told CNN. Officials are starting to streamline teams for specific response needs – including hundreds of people who may be trapped in labyrinthine hydroelectric power plant tunnels.
- Rebuilding key infrastructure: In China, rescue teams could be seen shovelling water thick with sediment along a national highway that leads to a rural border town linking China and Nepal, in footage published by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
- Geological “disaster points”: Chinese analysts identified eight “high-risk geological disaster points” near Gyirong Port, which runs through the border with Nepal, as heavy rainfall and waterlogged areas compound the risk of secondary landslides.
Rescuers race to find workers missing in Nepal’s hydropower tunnels. What we know so far
Rescue crews and foreign specialists are racing to find scores of workers feared trapped alive inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal, after thick mud buried the facilities during last week’s devastating flash floods.
At least 933 workers are missing at various hydropower projects that run along the Trishuli river, which winds through multiple districts in the remote and mountainous area, according to the country’s disaster agency.
It’s not clear how many of those workers were inside the deep and heavily reinforced tunnels when the water hit. It’s also unclear how many of them may be still alive, with search and rescue efforts complicated by poor weather, mud, and the loss of critical infrastructure like roads and bridges.
Nepal and its superpower neighbors, China and India, have invested heavily in hydropower projects across the Himalayas in recent years, hoping to harness the vast energy potential of its raging rivers.
Chinese rescue team building a road in between towering mountains and turbulent currents
Latest drone footage from CCTV shows rescue workers using lifting equipment in an attempt to restore and rebuild a road by the turbulent currents and in between the towering mountains.
They are repairing the national highway No. 216, the main road leading to the Gyirong, the remote border town connecting China and Nepal severely devastated in last week’s catastrophic flood.
“This terrain is particularly challenging and with so many bends, the access for the repair crew and building vehicles are very limited,” said the CCTV reporter.
Till this morning, the crew has advanced 533 meters, leaving 1.15 kilometers (0.71 miles) to Gyirong port.
Nepali scientist who studies melting glaciers searching for missing brother after floods
A scientist in Nepal who studies melting glaciers is now confronting tragedy triggered by the climate phenomenon.
Arbindra Khadka, a glaciologist and research scientist at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, told CNN on Monday his brother is missing after last week’s catastrophic floods along the Nepal-China border.
“It’s very devastating. We tried our best to figure out what happened with our brother, along with other people. And the only one hope left is he’s still inside the tunnel and he’s alive. But outside, we could not find him. He’s still missing,” Khadka told CNN’s Polo Sandoval.
Rescuers in Nepal are scrambling to search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in the tunnels of hydropower projects.
The flash floods engulfed the Nepal-China border region last week after a large portion of a glacier broke, triggering an avalanche and landslide.
Khadka explained that glaciers are warming more rapidly, raising the risk of disaster.
“In the summer monsoon, the lower part (of the glacier) is melting very fast” and it destabilizes the ice, he said. “And secondary thing there is the permafrost thaw… the top layer of the frozen ground is melting during the summer.”
Flood-hit areas in Nepal cut off from aid as rescuers try to find survivors in tunnels
Six days since the devastating flash floods at its border with China, Nepali emergency response teams “have not given up hope of finding more survivors” in face of the perilous challenge against the tough terrain, a member of parliament told CNN on Monday.
“We’re still very much in that search and rescue mode,” said Sumnima Udas, who is also a former CNN international correspondent. “But the terrain is incredibly challenging, particularly in Rasuwa area, which is the ground zero… which remains completely cut off.”
“Helicopters have to literally queue up to go in one by one… because it’s full of very narrow ridges and gorges,” she explained. “The land has also become very swamp-like, so heavy equipment cannot reach many of these areas.”
Many areas in hard-hit Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts have become inaccessible under the deluge of debris, said David Fisher, who heads the Nepal delegation for the International Federation of the Red Cross.
“Only yesterday, a road opened up, but it’s a very difficult road. It can’t take trucks. It takes 14 hours for something that would usually take two, but at least there’s an opening,” he told CNN on Monday.
The Nepali government has increased its manpower for rescue operations, with around 20,000 personnel, while teams from China, South Korea and India have arrived to help, Udas said. Nepali authorities are prioritizing getting hundreds of people who may be trapped in hydroelectric power station tunnels.
“There is just an enormous amount of debris, mud, silt inside these tunnels. So they’re having to blast through some of these tunnels further downstream. Dozens of teams are working on identifying and recovering the bodies,” she said.
China warns water level in barrier lake could rise as rain and chilly weather expected
China Meteorological Administration said on Monday that more rain is expected in Gyirong and warned of slippery surfaces along the routes leading to the disaster-hit port.
Temperature could also drop to as low as 46 degrees Fahrenheit. There could be a large difference in temperature between day and night and it could feel damp and chilly, according to the report.
Moderate to heavy rain may fall in southeastern Tibet. Continued rainfall may also cause a rise in water levels in the barrier lake formed from an initial landslide in the disaster, according to the report.
China has previously paused rescue operations over fears of a secondary disaster triggered by overflowing lake water.
12 people in China taken to task for allegedly spreading false information about floods
At least 12 people in China were taken to task after they were accused of spreading false information online about last week’s catastrophic flooding along its border with Nepal, according to Chinese authorities.
The latest “cyberspace cleanup” campaign launched by China’s Public Security Ministry targeted people who “fabricated and spread false information on the disaster to mislead the public,” according to a notice it published on Monday.
According to the notice, 10 people received administrative penalties. The notice also listed examples of what it said was the false information from them — they mainly comprised speculation and claims about the officially-reported numbers of dead and missing at the disaster-hit Gyirong Port in Tibet.
One such claim cited as an example in the notice claimed a far higher number of dead and missing that the official tolls released so far.
In the latest update on Sunday, Chinese authorities reported that 16 have been killed so far and 546 are missing.
In a separate statement on Monday, police from Shannan, a city in southeast Tibet, said two people were summoned after they allegedly spread false information online about the casualty numbers.
The two have since deleted the posts containing the false information, Shannan police said. It’s not clear what information the posts contained.
Countries around the world often face a deluge of misinformation in the aftermath of natural disasters, which can hamper rescue efforts and fan public anger.
China maintains strict controls on online content at all times but censorship is often ramped up after major natural disasters.
Authorities have removed footage showing flood waters hitting an administrative building in Gyirong Port. Hotlines for families of flood victims were only made available on Sunday, days after the disaster.
Chinese state media coverage has focused on the ongoing rescue operations, including regular updates on progress made in reaching incredibly remote places.
"Grief-filled": South Korean hydropower worker devastated by missing Nepal colleagues
A South Korean site manager at the hydropower plant along the Nepal-China border is reeling from the flood catastrophe that left workers stranded.
The manager, who was not named, was inside a tunnel when disaster struck, CNN affiliate JTBC reported. By the time he came out of the tunnel, there was water everywhere and he could not even see the office building.
“There are still workers we cannot reach, so I am still left with nothing but a heavy, sorrowful, and grief-filled heart,” JTBC reported the manager, who works for Doosan Enerbility Co, as saying on Sunday. He was one of 10 South Koreans rescued in the aftermath of the floods.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said nine of its citizens who were working on a hydropower plant are missing while 10 others have been rescued.
“I don’t have any thoughts right now. I’m only focused on supporting the search efforts as much as I can, within my knowledge,” the manager told public broadcaster Yonhap.
South Korea’s government response team is in Nepal for search and rescue operations for the missing Koreans.
Gyirong immigration officers join rescue mission at devastated border post
A group of 18 immigration officers who worked at the disaster-hit Gyirong border post in Tibet have joined search and rescue operations, reported Chinese state media Xinhua on Monday.
A video published by Xinhua showed the uniformed personnel walking towards the mountainous region along the Nepal-China border, which was hit by last week’s catastrophic flooding.
One officer, Yan Xinrong, told Xinhua on camera: “Our people are all down there, and we are going to find them.”
Off camera, a colleague was heard saying: “His girlfriend is down in there as well.”
Another officer, Ye Yi, recounted that he had tried to contact a former superior immediately after hearing about the disaster. “I texted him right away, but I haven’t heard back,” a visibly emotional Ye told Xinhua.
No signs of survivors have been found at the border post, and only personal belongings have been recovered.
In some of the most horrifying footage from Wednesday’s disaster, a ferocious flood wave was shown completely overcoming a large administrative building at Gyirong Port.
Sharp rise in number of people missing in Nepal as death toll reaches 903
The death toll from last week’s catastrophic flooding at the Nepal-China border region has reached 903, Nepal’s disaster authority said on Monday, from 788 previously recorded. The death toll in China was 16 as of Sunday.
The number of missing people in Nepal rose to 4,247, including 592 foreign nationals, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said in its latest update. This is a sharp increase from Sunday, when 2,502 persons were reported to be unaccounted for.
Chinese authorities reported on Sunday that 546 people were missing.
On both sides of the border, 919 people have died and 4,793 are missing.
Emergency workers in Nepal have rescued 10,451 people, according to the update on Monday.
This post has been updated with additional information.
List details number of missing workers at Nepal's hydropower projects
A list compiled by Nepal’s Independent Power Producers’ Association (IPPAN) details the number of people missing at the various hydropower projects impacted by the flooding, as of Saturday.
At least 933 workers are unaccounted for at the projects, according to the country’s disaster agency, while the breakdown below carries an earlier, slightly lower total.
Number of missing at affected hydropower projects (as of August 29):
- Upper Trishuli-1 –– 576
- Upper Trishuli-3B –– 122
- Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project –– 93
- Upper Trishuli-3A –– 42
- Langtang River –– 42
- Chilime –– 8
- Melung River –– 7
- Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi –– 4
- Middle Trishuli Ganga –– 2
- Tishuli Hydropower Project –– 1
- Devighat Hydropower Project –– 1
Total listed missing as of August 29: 898
Some context: An urgent effort is underway at a handful of the sites to search for any survivors who may be trapped inside tunnels at the hydropower projects. At the Trishuli-3A project, a hole has been bored into a tunnel so rescuers can access it to located anyone inside.
Rescuers are rappelling with ropes into hydropower tunnels through drilled holes
Rescue teams began rappelling into a tunnel at a hydropower plant in Nepal late Sunday, as part of an urgent mission to search for survivors who might be trapped inside several days after the devastating flash flood.
A roughly two-feet-wide hole has been drilled through the heavily fortified exterior of the tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-3A hydropower project, officials said, adding that rescue teams were hoping to get inside to identify where in the kilometers-long tunnel the workers might be.
They “descended through the opening using ropes and called out to those trapped inside, but received no response,” the prime minister’s office said on Sunday.
Video showed the workers rappelling downward into the dark cavern, wearing harnesses and helmets.
“The team is preparing to reach the suspected working space approximately 180 meters inside the tunnel from the portal, where it will assess the actual conditions, determine the possible location of the trapped individuals, and evaluate the safety situation as accurately as possible.”
Earlier, the team had also pumped air into the tunnel, and sent food inside.
A total of 90 personnel are on site, including from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force, as well as sniffer dogs and search-and-rescue teams, officials said.
Foreign rescue teams are working to clear and search other hydropower projects, which are scattered along the Trishuli river winding through multiple districts. The Indian team, for instance, is monitoring the Chilime and Langtang areas by helicopter, while the Chinese team has already searched the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, said the ministry’s news release.
Authorities met with the families of missing workers on Sunday, and told them the government “is leaving no stone unturned to save the lives of its citizens,” the ministry added.
Nepal is racing to rescue people possibly trapped in hydropower tunnels. Catch up here
Searching for survivors trapped in tunnels at hydropower projects is now a “highest priority” for Nepal authorities. More than 900 hydropower workers are still missing since catastrophic floods devastated the Nepal-China border region last week.
Residents are returning to ruined villages and mourning lost family members and loved ones. Dozens of children were reunited with their families after massive rescue efforts.
Here’s what to know.
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Workers trapped: A massive effort is underway to bore down into some of the tunnels of Trishuli 3A and 3B hydropower plants, according to Nepal’s Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. As many as 100 workers are believed to be trapped inside the Trishuli 3A hydropower station, one of 27 such facilities damaged or destroyed
. - Devastating toll: At least 788 people died in Nepal, according to local police, and at least 16 deaths were reported by Chinese authorities. Officials buried nearly 200 unidentified bodies in Nepal as authorities struggle with the large number of remains.
- Hazards flagged: Eight “high-risk geological disaster points” have been flagged for intensive monitoring around Gyirong Port area, as China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday called for drone aerial surveys and manual patrols to provide early warning of possible collapses and landslides.
- Signals restored: Communication signals have been restored at Gyirong, the remote Chinese border post devastated by the flooding, state media Xinhua reported. It was one of the first places to be hit by water, mud and rocks during the disaster.
- Tales of survival: Several workers made a hellish escape out of flooded hydro tunnels, they told CNN. A 6-year-old girl who paramedics rescued on Friday after being trapped under the rubble for 60 hours is now with her parents, her aunt told police. Dozens of children were also reunited with their families or guardians this weekend, according to Save the Children. In one of the worst-hit areas, a group of schoolchildren survived as they left their classroom for their lunch break.
China flags multiple risks for rescuers at flood-hit Gyirong Port
A team tasked with probing hazards around the Gyirong Port area in Tibet identified eight “high-risk geological disaster points” for intensive monitoring as rescue efforts after Wednesday’s flooding continue.
China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on Sunday called for drone aerial surveys and manual patrols to conduct risk assessments and monitoring to provide early warning of possible collapses and landslides, according to the ministry’s official social media account.
Rescuers on both sides of the China-Nepal border have been grappling with the risks of additional flooding and landslides – complicating already perilous rescue and recovery operations in the disaster-hit areas.
A crater from a glacial collapse that triggered the disaster is “the biggest risk point” for a barrier lake created from the resulting landslide, the ministry warned on Sunday morning. Water was continuously flowing from that crater, posing risks to water-logged downstream areas, the ministry said in its latest update.
The barrier lake had caused significant concern for rescue teams in recent days. The lake has been largely emptied, the ministry added.
On Monday, weather authorities in China said there would be light rains, with showers also forecast for Tuesday.
Rescuers have found Nepal hydropower tunnel entrance, geologist says
From his office in Melbourne, Dix has been reviewing technical drawings, satellite images and aerial videos to determine the best way to access the tunnels.
“Normally, they collapse and I’m trying to get people out. This time, they haven’t collapsed, but everything around them has, and I’m trying to get in,” he said.
The entrance to the Trishuli 3A power station was completely buried, but in the last few hours, Dix said workers had confirmed that they’ve found it – though they’re still hundreds of meters from the turbine room where survivors could be trapped.
“We don’t know how much of that tunnel is full of mud or water… So, we might only have to dig 10 meters, or we might have to dig 100 meters,” Dix told CNN on Monday local time.
He said there’s a risk the emergency shutdown systems failed and the turbine rooms filled with water.
If that happened, rescuers could potentially drown if they break through rubble that’s acting as a plug.
“Another thing we’re trying to do is to drill from the top… But that’s really difficult because we need special equipment to get through the steel and everything that’s surrounding the turbine room. So, it’s layer upon layer of technical difficulties,” Dix said.
“I think it’s quite likely that the turbine room’s intact, and certainly that’s what we’re planning on.”
He said anyone trapped inside could survive for weeks if a water supply is available.
Dix also advised the rescue of 41 Indian workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel under the Himalayas in 2023.
How a glacier collapse triggered devastating flooding at the Nepal-China border
As we continue to cover rescue and recovery efforts on the ground in Nepal and China, here’s a closer look at how the catastrophe started. This graphic maps the glacier’s swift descent — and the devastation that followed:
Read more about the disaster here.
