Nepal floods death toll reaches 1,287

Shafaq News- Kathmandu

At least 1,287 people have been killed in Nepal by flash floods and mudslides along the border with China, while 5,083 others remain missing nine days after the disaster struck the Himalayan region, the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said on Friday.

The missing include 583 foreigners. Authorities also rescued two people from the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project.

At least six hydropower projects on the Nepalese side of the border were hit by the floods, with searches continuing for around 900 personnel deployed at the facilities.

Across the border, Chinese authorities reported 21 deaths and 541 people missing in the Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet. Combined official figures from both countries put the toll at 1,308 dead and 5,624 missing, including 844 foreigners.

Property, housing and infrastructure losses in Nepal are estimated at more than 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.56 billion), Dharma Raj Upreti, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told Reuters.

Upreti estimated that restoring roads, drinking water and electricity and providing temporary shelters during the first four months of recovery would cost around $52.6 million. He said authorities would conduct a more detailed damage assessment.

Around 20,000 homes will need to be rebuilt in flood-hit areas, including at least 7,500 that were destroyed, according to Upreti.

The disaster began on August 26 when a glacier on Nepal’s Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet), triggering an ice-rock avalanche that developed into a massive debris flow.

Floods and mudslides swept through Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Kavre districts and the Kathmandu Valley, while the disaster also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang.