Nepal-Tibet floods: death toll nears 800; air pipe inserted to tunnel where large group trapped – follow updates

Here are some images of rescuers and army personnel in Nepal trying to locate the thousands of people who are still missing.

About 85 Americans remain missing after a devastating flood swept through a remote region of the Himalayas, the state department said on Sunday.

State department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told ABC talkshow “This Week” that nine Americans have been evacuated and that he was unaware of any US nationals dying in the disaster.

Pigott said:

The remoteness of this location makes getting reliable information difficult. But our dedication remains, our commitment remains.

The death toll in Nepal has risen to 781, Reuters reports, citing the disaster authority.

As we reported earlier, there are slightly different figures going around from different agencies and officials, and earlier we reported 788.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following Wednesday’s disaster, taking the overall toll to 797 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for.

Nepal’s Chitwan district has become the site of mass burials for hundreds of unidentified victims whose bodies were swept away by the devastating flash floods on Wednesday.

Authorities have dug ⁠hundreds of graves in the district’s Devghat forest, with the forest trials serving as a temporary burial ground for bodies too badly decomposed to be identified.

“We were left with no other option and had to take this step. Our concern was the ⁠risk to public health posed by the rapid decomposition of the bodies,” Ganesh Arya, chief district officer of Baratpur, the headquarters of Chitwan district, said.

According to the Reuters news agency, authorities buried 96 unidentified bodies in the forest yesterday and planned to bury over 100 others on Sunday, as recovery teams continue to retrieve victims from rivers and piles ⁠of debris.

Nepal’s disaster agency has said in an update that the death toll has increased to 788 after the catastrophic flash flood. There are slightly different figures circulating from various agencies and officials.

Authorities have issued high-alert fresh water surge and flash flood warnings for the Trishuli Bazaar area in Nepal’s Nuwakot district following severe upstream glacial collapses and debris flows.

Senator Penny Wong, Australian minister for foreign affairs, said Australia is deploying a further $3m in humanitarian assistance to flood-afflicted areas along the Nepal-China border.

Wong announced that this would include “$2m in supplies and other humanitarian support to be delivered by the ADF in the coming days.”

She added that the government will provide a further $1m to the Emergency Action Alliance appeal (EAA appeal):

There has been an overwhelming response from the Australian people to the Emergency Action Alliance appeal, which has now reached over $1.4m in donations.

As a result, the government will provide a further $1m to the EAA appeal.

Wong highlighted that 42 Australians remain unaccounted for, and outlined the government’s promise to “continue to do everything we can to confirm their welfare and support their loved ones.”

You can read the full post on X here.

Here are a few of the latest images that show some the damage and the ongoing desperate search to find missing people.

Nepal said on Sunday it had begun burying some of the hundreds of bodies recovered after devastating floods, as the death toll rises to 752.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 people are dead in Tibet and 546 people are missing following Wednesday’s disaster, taking the overall toll to 768.

The dead are traditionally cremated on funeral pyres in Hindu-majority Nepal, so the burials are viewed as long-term storage until families can retrieve them. DNA samples have been taken and all of those buried have been carefully recorded, foreign secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters, according to AFP.

Authorities in Nepal warned of possible fresh flooding on Sunday and urged residents in flood-affected districts to remain on high alert after water levels rose in the Bhotekoshi River.

Flood warning notices were sent to people’s phones early Sunday as rescue crews worked to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday’s catastrophic floods. Latest figures suggest at least 760 people have been killed, though this figure has not yet been confirmed. More than 3,000 people remain missing in Nepal and Tibet.

Nepali rescuers trying to reach hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris deployed heavy machinery on Sunday, after rain and rising river waters hampered earlier efforts.

“Drilling of four holes has been completed… preparations are now underway to enter the tunnel directly… and proceed with search and rescue operations,” Nepal’s energy ministry said in an update.

Rescue operations entered their fifth day since the floods, with teams battling difficult conditions at the disaster sites.

Nepal’s government says more than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites in the Himalayan river valley.

They are among 933 hydropower workers missing since a wall of mud and debris swept down on Wednesday morning, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Army rescue teams using drills at Trishuli 3A first broke through into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel on Saturday evening, and began pumping air and sending in a camera.

Overnight rain and rising river levels hampered efforts early on Sunday, filling the excavation area with water, before conditions eased.

Search crews and the aftermath of the flood – in pictures

We have these latest pictures that illustrate the ongoing desperate search, rescue and relief operation in Nepal and Tibet.

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the deadly flash floods near the Nepal-Tibet border.

Rescuers in Nepal and China are still trying to locate thousands of people who are missing days after a wall of water and debris swept through the Himalayan region.

The combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to at least 750 dead and more than 3,000 people missing after China’s latest update on Sunday. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, while Nepali officials confirmed 734 dead and 2,498 people missing. There were reports of some dead swept downstream as far away as India.

China said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were missing on the Tibetan side of a ⁠border crossing with Nepal: the ⁠highest number was from Nepal at 104, while 49 Indian, 33 Latvian, 18 American and 15 British citizens were also unaccounted for.

In a breakthrough late on Saturday, the Nepali army was able to insert a pipe into a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site where workers are believed to be trapped.

“We have already started sending air through the small opening, and we will now begin excavation work and send the rescue team inside,” said the home minister, Sudan Gurungd. More than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside such tunnels, with rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.

Here’s the other main developments:

• Four days after the disaster, authorities said some bodies being recovered had decomposed beyond recognition. They would be buried after legal formalities because of health risks and a fear of disease outbreaks. “DNA samples will be collected, and the bodies will be buried in an open space,” the Chitwan district administration said in a notice.

• The foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, said Nepal required specialist assistance to rescue people trapped in tunnels; restore transport and communication lines where ⁠bridges had been destroyed; identify bodies; conduct DNA testing; and store bodies for longer periods.

• A team of Indian tunnel experts arrived in Nepal ​on Saturday, Khanal said. China’s Xinhua news agency reported Beijing had dispatched ​five tunnel experts to support rescue efforts, with four more due ​to join them.

• The US will provide $3.6m in humanitarian aid to Nepal, “including up to three months of emergency food assistance to up to 10,000 flood-affected households,” the state department said in a post on X.