TDS Desk:

The latest figures, released by Nepal’s disaster management authorities, increased from the previous toll of 579 deaths and 1,924 missing people.

Nepal’s death toll from catastrophic flash floods along the border with China rose to 626 today (29 August), while 2,426 people remained missing as search-and-rescue operations entered their fourth day.

The latest figures, released by Nepal’s disaster management authorities, increased from the previous toll of 579 deaths and 1,924 missing people.

China separately reported seven deaths and 554 people missing in Tibet.

Poor weather disrupted helicopter rescue operations today (29 August), with Nepali Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said aerial operations had been suspended until conditions improved.

Rescue workers and security personnel have been working continuously since Wednesday (26 August), searching flood-hit areas along the Nepal-China border. More than 3,700 people have so far been rescued in Nepal.

Search operations continued at several sites, including the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district and the badly damaged Gyirong border crossing on the Chinese side.

At the hydropower project, authorities believe more than 100 people could be trapped inside a tunnel filled with thick mud. Basnet said rescuers had managed to reach some people using ropes and baskets, but the operation was extremely difficult because the tunnel was covered by 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) of mud and there were few suitable landing areas for helicopters.

Rescue teams also had to temporarily move to safer locations after warnings of possible additional flooding.

Authorities remained on alert over the risk of another flood from a newly formed lake high in the Himalayas. Experts had warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse triggered Wednesday’s floods, could overflow.

However, monitoring data from China’s Ministry of Water Resources showed the lake had shrunk considerably by yesterday (28 August). According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, its water level had fallen by about 10 meters (32 feet) from its peak on Thursday morning (27 August).

Aid trucks were seen leaving Kathmandu for the worst-affected areas as relief efforts continued.

In Nuwakot, one of the district’s hardest-hit areas by the floods, families gathered at relief centers seeking information about missing relatives. Military personnel posted lists containing dozens of names, while anxious relatives searched for loved ones, photographed the lists, and waited for updates.

Meanwhile, rescue operations continued at Gyirong Port, a key China-Nepal border crossing that suffered extensive damage. Chinese state media showed rescuers reaching the area on foot and by raft, while some were lowered from drones. Rescuers could be heard calling out to survivors.

Authorities had not immediately determined how many people were inside the border checkpoint building when the floods struck.

The disaster has caused extensive destruction on both sides of the border. Nepal’s official death toll stood at 579 yesterday (28 August), although police gave a lower figure of 553. On the Chinese side, the death toll rose to seven, while 554 people were reported missing.

Hundreds of those missing are foreigners who had traveled to the region for work, trekking, or religious pilgrimages to a sacred Himalayan peak.