Nepal-Tibet floods live: At least 750 dead as rising water levels hamper rescue efforts
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By: Natasha LI A family member looks on as a vehicle carrying bodies parks upon its arrival at a temporary holding centre, where the bodies of victims are kept following devastating flash floods and a mudslide, in Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal August 30, 2026. © Navesh Chitrakar, Reuters At least 750 people have died and more than 3,000 remain missing after devastating floods struck Nepal and Tibet near the Chinese border, local authorities said Sunday. Rescue efforts are entering a fifth day, with heavy overnight rain and rising river waters hampering operations to reach hydropower workers believed to be trapped in tunnels. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
Nepalese authorities announced on Sunday that the provisional death toll from the devastating floods had risen to more than 730, with nearly 2,500 people still missing.Among the thousands of people missing is the husband of a 22-year-old woman, who is still waiting for him to return.
Like tens of thousands of Nepalese people in recent days, she went to one of the country’s medical centres to find out whether her husband was among those whose bodies had been recovered in recent days.
Rescue and relief efforts in Nepal and Tibet have been hampered this Sunday by heavy rain and rising river levels. The latest figures following Wednesday’s flash floods put the death toll at 750, while more than 3,000 people remain missing.
Nepal’s disaster authorities are urging rescue teams to “exercise caution”, warning that bad weather, swollen rivers and the threat of further flooding could hamper operations. Shazab Wahlah reports from the town of Bidur.
Authorities in Nepal are warning 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 throughout Sunday morning as rescue crews worked to clear a major highway connecting Kathmandu to one of the areas worst hit by Wednesday's catastrophic floods.
In the town of Galchhi, a group of residents sought higher ground on a nearby bridge and watched as the river roared by. People pointed to enormous rocks washed downriver during the earlier floods, as others standing on a suspension bridge over the water were warned off with whistles.
Along the river, entire homes, vehicles and farm tractors could be seen jutting from the thick gray-brown sediment that enveloped entire villages in the worst-hit flood areas. Rice terraces along the riverside had experienced landslides, dropping parts of their field into the river.
A drone view shows a man walking next to damaged buildings and houses covered in mud near the Likhu River following deadly flash floods and mudslides, in Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 30, 2026. @Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters
A woman walks out from a damaged house following deadly flash floods and mudslides, in Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 30, 2026. @Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters
Sunita Chitrakar, 40, reacts as she holds up her chickens after rescuing them from her house, following deadly flash floods and mudslides, in Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 30, 2026. @Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters
A drone view of the aftermath of flash flooding along the Trishuli river amidst fresh water surge warning in the Trishuli Bazaar area of Nuwakot district, Nepal, Sunday, August 30, 2026. @Rajesh Kumar Singh, AP
A resident walks across a bridge at the swollen Trishuli river in Galchhi, Dhading District, Nepal, Sunday, August 30, 2026. @Niranjan Shrestha, AP
An army soldier carries a person who was evacuated from an area affected by flash floods and a mudslide, at the Maithili Barrack, an army training center, in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 30, 2026. @Francis Mascarenhas, Reuters
Chinese rescuers near the Tibet border port that was hit by a deadly mudslide were "moved to a safe location" Sunday, after a new lake was formed by a landslide, state media reported.
"On the evening of Aug 29, monitoring drones deployed in the area detected a landslide on a mountainside 2.8 kilometers downstream from the Purepuqiang Tsangpo barrier lake," the state broadcaster said, referring to a drained lake that had in previous days threatened rescue operations.
"The landslide formed a new barrier and a new barrier lake is now forming," CCTV said, adding that rescue personnel near the Gyirong border port had been moved to safer areas.
Nepali rescuers seeking to reach hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris were hampered Sunday by heavy overnight rain and rising river waters.
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.
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.
At Trishuli 3A, army rescue teams using drills broke through Saturday evening into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel and began pumping air and sending a camera inside.
But overnight rain and rising river waters hampered efforts at that site.
"Heavy rainfall after around 2:00 am (2015 GMT) caused the water level in the river to rise, and also fill in the excavation area," the Nepal Army said Sunday morning, as rescue efforts entered their fifth day.
Photographs shared by the disaster office showed workers wading through churned mud and navigating vast boulders left by the floods.
China on Sunday said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were missing on the Tibetan side of a border crossing with Nepal following a mudslide which tore through the Himalayan region, while the death toll in Tibet has reached 16 people.
Officials from China's Tibet Autonomous Region said at a press conference that the highest number of missing…
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