Nepal Sounds New Flood Alert As Deaths Cross 800, Over 3,000 Still Missing

A new flooding threat looms over Nepal as thousands of rescuers race against time to find those still missing, six days after a glacial collapse unleashed deadly devastation along the border with Tibet. The combined deaths from the catastrophic floods in Nepal and Tibet crossed 800, with more than 3,000 people still missing, according to the latest data.

Flood warning notices have again been issued after Chinese authorities informed their Nepalese counterparts of increased water flow upstream. Authorities in Kathmandu said water levels are dangerously rising in the Bhotekoshi River, and worsening weather threatens to trigger another flash flood, as rescue crews worked to clear roads connecting Kathmandu to flood-affected areas.

New Flood Threat 

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua, citing the country's water resources ministry, said that a new lake has formed after Wednesday's floods high in the mountains had largely drained. But Xinhua said the ministry warned that a crater located 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) upstream, which held an estimated 1.4 million cubic meters (370 million gallons) of water, still posed some risk and required close monitoring.

Overnight rain and rising river waters also hampered rescue operations, filling the excavation area with water before conditions eased, the Nepali army said.

Deaths Cross 800

According to Nepal's disaster agency, the deaths have climbed to 788 with 2,502 missing, while Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on the Chinese side of the border. 

The missing include hundreds of people from over a dozen countries, including from India, who were in the region to work, visit the mountains, or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak. Chinese state media said 261 foreigners were still missing in Tibet, including over a hundred Nepalis and others from around the world.

Nepal Starts Burying Bodies

In Nepal, distraught families in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts have packed rescue stations and hospitals in search of their missing relatives, while others have faced the grim task of identifying bodies at overflowing morgues. Overwhelmed by the number of bodies and without proper freezing facilities, Nepali authorities have had to begin burials before completing the identification process.

Officials said DNA samples were taken from the bodies so that families could later claim them and perform traditional funeral rites.

Survivors were also faced with the daunting prospect of rebuilding their lives from nothing.

"All the settlements near the river were swept away," resident Buddhi Ram Dangol told AFP in Nepal's Nuwakot district.

"There is nothing left."

Evacuation at Hydroplant Projects

There are also 933 workers at hydropower plants among those unaccounted for in Nepal. Nepali army troops and engineers drilled through debris towards workers believed trapped in a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site in the Himalayan river valley after they successfully inserted a pipe into the passage.

Workers who managed to get out described horrifying scenes when the disaster struck. Surendra Dowluri, 33, from Andhra Pradesh state, told AFP that raging water swamped the Upper Trishuli-1 site, where he was working.

"We heard a very loud sound... and saw that the turbine floor was submerged with slush, and six workers were stuck in that," Dowluri said after his rescue four days into the disaster.

"We managed to rescue five of them, but one person lost his life," he said, describing how some workers reached higher ground or construction areas out of reach of the torrent.

Call for Help

Nepal's economy, which is already under pressure, has said it has limited resources to respond to a disaster of this scale. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the reconstruction bill could run into "billions of dollars."

He appealed for specialised assistance, including heavy-lift drones and technology to help locate people who are trapped. Khanal also called for forensic testing kits to identify corpses and freezer units to store them, saying bodies that have been in water could decompose at a faster rate.

The minister has highlighted the inequity that Nepal should suffer the extreme impacts of climate change when it has one of the world's lowest per-capita carbon emissions.

Responding to the call, the United States and Canada said they would provide $3.6 million each in humanitarian aid to Nepal.

The UK has offered $6.8 million, while the UN released $2.5 million in emergency funding, and aid pledges were made by the European Union, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and others.