Last week, a massive landslide and flooding in Nepal and Tibet have brought the death toll close to 1,000.
According to reports from CNN and BBC citing the Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, as of 9 a.m. local time on August 31, the death toll in Nepal has reached 903, with 4,247 people reported missing, including 592 foreigners. This marks a significant increase from the previous day's figures of 788 dead and 2,502 missing.
Additionally, Chinese authorities reported that 16 people have died and 546, including 261 foreigners, are missing due to landslides in the Tibetan region near the Nepal border.
Thus, the total number of deaths from the landslides and floods in Nepal and Tibet has reached 919, with 4,793 individuals unaccounted for. Among the missing foreigners, nine South Korean workers at a local hydropower construction site are also unaccounted for.
The disaster was triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas along the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, which caused debris flows to pour into river basins in the border region. This resulted in significant human and material damage, including the disappearance of border checkpoints between China and Nepal.
The Nepalese government estimates that recovery efforts from the flooding will require between $4 billion and $5 billion, a sum that approaches 10% of Nepal's total economic output.
Meanwhile, rescue operations are underway, but authorities in Nepal and China are facing challenges due to the loss of many bridges and roads, compounded by forecasts of additional rainfall in the affected areas.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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