The death toll from devastating floods triggered by a glacial collapse along the China-Nepal border has risen to 1,003, with thousands of people still unaccounted for as rescue operations enter their seventh day.
Nepal’s disaster management authorities said on Tuesday that at least 987 people had died in the country, while Chinese state media reported 16 deaths in Tibet.
The combined figure brings the confirmed death toll from the disaster to more than 1,000.
Nepal also recorded a decline in its missing-person figure, with 3,916 people still unaccounted for, while China reported 546 missing persons.
Across the two countries, the number of missing people now stands at 4,462.
The disaster has also affected foreign nationals from several countries. Nepal’s missing-person list includes 583 foreigners from more than 30 nationalities, while 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries are reportedly missing in China.
India accounts for a significant proportion of the missing foreigners in Nepal. New Delhi said 275 Indian citizens and 128 people of Indian origin were among those unaccounted for.
The United States has also reported 85 missing citizens, according to the US State Department.
Other nationals reported missing include 62 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 42 Australians and 33 British citizens, based on information from Nepal’s tourism authorities and diplomatic missions.
The flooding has also affected neighbouring India, where authorities in Uttar Pradesh recovered 17 bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal.
Officials believe the bodies could be those of people swept away by the floods, but the victims had yet to be formally identified. The 17 bodies have not been included in the current death toll.
The disaster was reportedly triggered by a massive surge of water and debris following a glacial collapse in the mountainous region along the China-Nepal border.
Rescue teams in affected areas have continued searching for survivors and recovering bodies as the operation enters its seventh day.
The scale of the disaster has left communities in parts of Nepal and Tibet facing extensive destruction, while families continue to await information about missing relatives.
Authorities in the affected countries are expected to continue search-and-rescue operations as efforts intensify to locate those still missing and identify recovered victims.
