Nepal floods: Hundreds dead, thousands missing, and race to rescue workers trapped in tunnels

Rescue efforts continue nearly two weeks after devastating floods swept through Nepal along its border with China, as the death toll rises to more than 900, with approximately 4,300 people missing in a disaster whose scale is hard to comprehend. Unidentified bodies were buried in mass graves after DNA samples were taken.

The death toll from the floods that struck Nepal on the border with China last Wednesday has risen to 903 dead and 4,247 missing, according to the Nepal Emergency Management Agency, which announced the figures yesterday.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said the scale of the disaster is “unimaginable and shocking,” as rescue teams raced against time under extremely hazardous conditions to try to extract dozens of workers from the hydropower sector believed to be trapped inside tunnels. Excavation, clearing, and blasting of debris continued relentlessly, supported by teams from China, India, and South Korea.

Amid the horror, a glimmer of hope emerged as a six-year-old girl was rescued from the mud and reunited with her parents after police found her crying and calling for her mother. Nitra Bahadur Karki, a spokesperson for the Nepal Armed Police Force, told AFP, “Her body was stuck in the mud, but her head was out.” He added, “Her condition is stable, and she is recovering in the hospital. She has been returned to her family.”

He continued, “We are continuing search, rescue, and relief operations,” as communications gradually improve. Police initially used drones to deliver messages to isolated areas. “Rescue teams have now reached most areas by land or air,” he added.

For his part, Abiodun Oni, a representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told AFP that “this is a disaster unfolding in chapters,” noting that the needs of tens of thousands of affected people are immense. Landslides swept away roads, destroyed power generation stations, and knocked down dozens of bridges.

With morgues overcrowded, Nepal began burying hundreds of bodies after taking DNA samples, as families pleaded with Kathmandu for international support, emphasizing that Nepal needs “more than a thousand refrigerated units for storing corpses.”

Grieving families, eager to learn about their missing relatives, are viewing images of the deceased on screens at local centers in an attempt to identify the dead.