Thousands remain missing as Nepal's death toll hits 1,000

Rescue personnel pull out a locker from a deluged bank after flash floods at Trishuli Center in Nepal’s Nuwakot district on September 1, 2026. The huge wave of freezing water and debris, sparked by a glacial collapse on the China-Nepal border, killed at least 939 people and left nearly 4,500 missing, with Kathmandu warning reconstruction costs could run into the “billions of dollars”. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)

Devastating floods on the China-Nepal border have killed at least 987 people in Nepal, the disaster authority said Tuesday, taking overall deaths to more than 1,000.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 people were killed in Tibet, bringing the total toll from Wednesday’s disaster to 1,003.

The number of missing in Nepal dropped to 3,916, as rescue efforts entered a seventh day, and the bodies recovered rose.

In China, state media say there 546 people missing, taking the overall number of missing to 4,462.