Recovery efforts from the massive flooding in the Himalayan region along the Nepal-China border are expected to cost up to approximately 7 trillion won ($5 billion to $6.9 billion).
On August 29, local time, Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle stated that the estimated recovery costs for the extensive flooding that occurred in northern Bagmati Province on August 26 could range from $4 billion to $5 billion. He noted that the upper estimate of $5 billion is nearly 10% of Nepal's total economic size. However, Wagle emphasized in an interview with Reuters that "this is an initial estimate" and added, "It will require much less than what was needed after the 2015 earthquake. We are currently assessing the extent of the losses and damages."
Meanwhile, four days after the flooding began, the total number of confirmed fatalities in both countries has risen to 633, with nearly 3,000 people reported missing. According to reports from AP and AFP, Nepal's disaster authorities confirmed that 626 people died due to the flooding in northern Bagmati Province on August 26.
On the same day, the death toll from landslides related to the flooding in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, near the border, increased from 5 to 7, bringing the total fatalities across both countries to 633.
Nine South Koreans, including six employees from Doosan Enerbility who were constructing the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant and three from Korea South-East Power, remain unaccounted for.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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