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Nepal Floods Leave Thousands Missing, Families in Limbo
Confirmed
In Short: A month after floods devastated Nepal, thousands remain missing, complicating recovery efforts.
More than a month after catastrophic floods hit Nepal, thousands of people remain missing, including 636 foreign nationals, according to Nepal's government.
The disaster, triggered by a glacial and rock collapse on August 26, has killed over 1,400 people and left more than 6,000 missing, most of them on the Nepali side of the border.
Rescue efforts have focused on hydropower projects across Nepal, where about 900 workers are missing, with 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels.
The Chinese government has told at least two families that their relatives left Chinese territory before the flood struck, but they haven't been able to confirm whether they entered Nepal due to the destruction of Nepal's immigration records.
DNA testing delays final rites for some families, and the process of rescuing, recovering, and identifying victims is expected to take months.
The disaster has left the government facing a long and costly recovery, with families confronting the loss of loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.
Emergency responders have rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in two separate operations as authorities continued to search for thousands of people missing 10 days after the floods.
Rescue efforts have been complicated by the massive infrastructural damage caused by the floods, with more than 40 bridges having collapsed and rivers swelling unpredictably.
Some children’s bodies were later recovered still wearing ties bearing their school’s logo, highlighting the personal toll of the disaster.
What this adds
The complexity of the recovery process is exacerbated by the destruction of Nepal's immigration records, making it difficult to confirm the status of missing individuals.
What's confirmed
- China has reported 261 foreign nationals among the missing on its side, including one Ukrainian.
What's still developing
- “We only have the statistics that are being posted online — how many people have been found, how many are alive, how many are dead, and how many are still missing,” said Stanislav Solohub, whose brother and sister-in-law went missing on Aug. 25.
- She initially found her mother’s name of the list of the missing from the Nepali government, but hasn't received any further information from the Nepali side.
- AP writer Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal and senior video producer Volodymr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed to this report. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events Olena Kalynychenko was looking forward to sharing the chrysanthemum tea she had bought in China with her partner.
- He has now been waiting for news about her for a month, after she and thousands of others disappeared in catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-China border.
- They disappeared while heading from China to Nepal on their way home.
- Shah also called for greater international support for Nepal’s recovery and stronger regional cooperation to prepare for climate-related disasters.
- “Climate change does not recognize borders. Glaciers and floods do not travel with stamps and passports,” he said.
- Pasang Maya Tamang, 32, who lost her young son in the floods, said she still dreams of him pleading for help.
- Ishmita Shah, a roads engineer, said crews have been working with Nepal’s army since the second day after the floods to reopen routes in affected areas.
- KATHMANDU: After spending five years working in Saudi Arabia, Narayan Prassan returned to his home in Nepal with savings, only to lose his house in the 2015 earthquake.
- Last month’s floods have destroyed everything once more.
- “I don’t know what to do.” A month after devastating floods swept through parts of Nepal, thousands are displaced like Prassan and rescuers continue searching for thousands others missing, including many believed trapped in six hydropower project tunnels.