The death toll from devastating flash floods in central Nepal has climbed to 724, authorities said Sunday, as rescue teams continue recovering bodies and searching for nearly 2,500 people still unaccounted for.
Rescuers have recovered bodies from all eight districts hit by the disaster and are continuing search operations on the fifth day since the floods struck.
The disaster began on Wednesday after an ice-rock avalanche triggered by a glacial collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border sent huge amounts of water, mud and debris downstream. The powerful surge swept through towns and villages, destroyed critical infrastructure and damaged hydropower facilities across central Nepal.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said the confirmed death toll had reached 724.
According to the agency, 259 bodies have been recovered in Chitwan, 184 in Nawalparasi East, 82 in Nawalparasi West and 58 in Gorkha.
Another 52 bodies were recovered in Nuwakot, 50 in Dhading, 36 in Tanahu and 13 in Rasuwa.
The NDRRMA said 2,498 people remain missing. The figure includes 85 security personnel and 320 foreign nationals.
Rescue teams have so far evacuated 8,186 people from the affected areas, including 227 foreigners.
Meanwhile, more than 143 stranded Indian citizens have made it safely back to India by train and air, with additional arrivals expected on Sunday morning.
Of the 404 tourists and pilgrims reported missing, 60 remain untraceable. Authorities managed to establish contact with 37 of them, who flew back to Mumbai on Saturday evening. Another 102 were scheduled to arrive in Nagpur at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, while four others had already reached the city on Saturday.
The international response to the disaster has also increased.
A rapid deployment team from the UK arrived in Nepal on Saturday to assist British nationals and their families affected by the floods.
The specially trained crisis response personnel will work with the British embassy and Nepalese authorities. Their duties include coordinating support for British citizens travelling through the airport, helping families seeking information about missing relatives and strengthening the UK’s existing consular response.
The deployment is part of Britain’s wider assistance package, which includes £5 million in humanitarian funding for relief and recovery operations in Nepal.
The team will also support families in the UK who are worried about relatives caught up in the disaster.
The US State Department announced a further $3.6 million (£2.6 million) in assistance in a statement posted on X on Saturday.
Among those still unaccounted for are two British teenagers, a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy, who are among 33 British nationals believed to be missing.
Other people with links to the UK who remain unaccounted for include an NHS nurse, a Hindu priest from south London who was leading a tour in the affected region and an 18-year-old from Surrey who had recently completed his A-levels.
Rescue operations were earlier complicated by concerns that another wave of flooding could occur from a lake created by the glacier collapse.
In Chitwan, officials said they had identified only four of the 233 bodies recovered so far.
The District Administration Office said DNA samples were being collected because many of the bodies were badly decomposed and could no longer be identified visually.
Britain’s £5 million aid package will contribute to Nepal’s emergency response, supporting relief operations involving the United Nations, Red Cross and humanitarian organisations.