The death toll from devastating Himalayan glacial floods crossed the grim 1,000 mark on Tuesday, as teams continue to search for survivors, including hundreds feared trapped in hydropower tunnels.
According to the latest figures released by the Nepal Police, 1,093 people have died, while nearly 4,500 people are still missing.
As search and rescue operations enter their 8th day today, the Nepalese government declared the region a disaster crisis zone for at least three months to facilitate resource deployment, strengthen personnel management, and accelerate post-disaster recovery efforts.
Nepali rescue teams are digging, drilling, and blasting through debris in a desperate race against time to free workers believed trapped in multiple hydropower tunnels.
So far, rescuers have recovered only bodies from tunnels blocked by sludge, and hopes of finding survivors are fading.
Excavators worked into the night on Tuesday, but an army update noted that “a large amount of water started flowing” into a hole they were digging, forcing them to start a new opening.
Meanwhile, the mass burial of unidentified flood victims was carried out in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
Security forces, including the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, and Nepal Army, performed the mass burial.
