The death toll from catastrophic flooding across Nepal and Tibet has risen to 750, with more than 3,000 people still missing, as fresh rainfall raised river levels and repeatedly disrupted rescue operations.
Authorities said on Sunday that 734 people had died in Nepal, while 16 deaths had been recorded in Tibet’s Gyirong County. A combined 3,044 people remain missing across the two countries.
The disaster began on Wednesday when a glacier collapsed near the Nepal-China border, sending a massive torrent of ice, rock, mud and debris through Himalayan valleys. China has linked the disaster to the effects of climate change.
Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday because of worsening weather and concerns surrounding a lake created by a mudslide near the border. The lake has begun overflowing into rivers flowing through Nepal, raising fears of further flooding.
Those concerns intensified on Sunday when fresh rain caused water levels in the Trishuli River to rise, prompting residents and rescue personnel to move to higher ground, according to Nepalese police.
Attention is increasingly focused on hundreds of people believed to be trapped inside tunnels at hydropower facilities struck by the debris flow.
Nepal’s disaster authority said 2,498 people remained missing in the country, while 7,514 had been rescued. In Tibet, authorities reported another 546 people missing.
Chinese officials also provided their first detailed breakdown of foreign nationals missing on the Tibetan side. Of 261 missing foreigners from 23 countries, 104 are Nepalese, 49 Indian, 33 Latvian, 18 American and 15 British.
The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people may have been affected by the disaster.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking with his Nepalese counterpart on Saturday, described the event as the two countries’ “most severe cross-border disaster” in recent years and said rescue operations were facing unprecedented difficulties.
Beijing and Kathmandu are coordinating efforts to identify missing Nepalese, Chinese and other foreign nationals