Disasters & Incidents
Tibet flood: China says 541 missing as families wait
Families of people missing after the Tibet flood are posting photos and appeals on Chinese social media as they wait for news, while Chinese state media reported 21 deaths and 541 people missing on the Tibetan side of the China-Nepal border.
The August 26 floods hit the Gyirong border area, burying buildings and roads under water, mud and debris. In Nepal, authorities reported more than 1,200 deaths and over 4,200 people missing as of Thursday, while Beijing's foreign ministry said nearly 100 Chinese nationals remained unaccounted for in Nepal.
Chinese official media has not shared the names of the missing and has published little footage of families' reactions. Officials and state media have focused on the scale of search operations, including more than 2,300 rescuers, helicopters and drones.
State news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday that local authorities were “promptly replying” to more than 800 calls from affected relatives.
Relatives online described days without updates and trips to Tibet to wait for information. Posts identified border police, tourists and construction workers among people unaccounted for on both sides of the border.
Exiled Tibetan advocacy groups have questioned China's account of the disaster, but Beijing says information has been released in an open, transparent and timely way. Earlier reports said floods and landslides followed a glacial collapse; the exact cause of the collapse remains unclear.
Update
Families of missing people are sharing photos and appeals on Chinese social media while waiting for news from Tibet.
Chinese official media has not shared the names of the missing and has published little footage of families' reactions.
Chinese reports have highlighted search operations involving more than 2,300 rescuers, helicopters and drones.
Xinhua reported that local authorities were replying to more than 800 calls from affected relatives.
Beijing's foreign ministry said nearly 100 Chinese nationals remained unaccounted for in Nepal.
Source note: AFP news report published on 3 September 2026 at 11:00:11 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster authority said at least 1,204 people had died in Nepal and 4,216 were still missing.
Chinese state media reported 21 deaths and 541 missing people in Tibet.
The combined reported toll across Nepal and Tibet rose to 1,225 dead and 4,757 missing.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 14:45:22 UTC.
Update
The disaster authority said the Nepal flood death toll had risen to 1,204, with 4,216 people missing.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 14:36:45 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster agency said 592 foreigners were unaccounted for on its side of the border.
Chinese officials said at least 261 foreign nationals were among those unaccounted for in Tibet.
China's CCTV said 104 Nepali nationals were missing in Tibet, while China's foreign ministry said nearly 100 Chinese nationals were missing in Nepal.
The item adds country-by-country figures for missing foreign nationals, including Indians, Americans, Ukrainians, Malaysians, Australians, people from the United Kingdom, Latvians and Canadians.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 14:57:06 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster authority said Nepal's death toll had risen to 939 and the missing count had dropped to 3,925.
The missing hydropower-project worker count in Nepal dropped to 639 from an earlier 933.
Nepal's missing list includes 3,333 citizens and 592 foreigners.
Authorities in India's Uttar Pradesh state said they had recovered 17 bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal, believed to be flood victims, but they are not included in the toll.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 14:18:43 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster authority said the death toll in Nepal rose to at least 939.
Nepal's disaster authority said the number missing in Nepal dropped to 3,925.
With Chinese state media's earlier figures for Tibet, the overall toll was 955 dead and 4,471 missing.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 14:06:15 UTC.
Update
Nepal's missing list includes 592 foreigners, including tourists and Hindu pilgrims.
An Indian army officer with a tunnel rescue team said he was still hopeful there were six survivors in the tunnel where he was stationed.
A six-year-old girl pulled from mud four days after the floods was reunited with her parents and was recovering in hospital, according to Nepal's Armed Police.
A police officer in Nuwakot district said many areas remained inaccessible because roads had been washed away.
Chinese authorities said more than 2,000 personnel were involved in rescue operations in Tibet.
Tibetan advocacy groups in exile questioned China's casualty account, while Beijing rejected reports that it was underreporting deaths.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 12:06:08 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster agency raised the number of bodies recovered in Nepal to 903 and the number missing there to 4,247.
China said 16 people had died and 546 were missing in Tibet.
At least 17 bodies had been pulled from rivers downstream in India.
Nepal has begun burying some unidentified bodies after DNA sampling because mortuaries are overflowing.
Nepal said it needed more than a thousand freezer units to store bodies and warned reconstruction could cost billions of dollars.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 08:14:05 UTC.
Update
Rescuers recovered three bodies from hydropower tunnels.
Officials said no contact had been made with workers feared trapped inside tunnels.
The government said more than 100 workers may still be alive in multiple tunnels.
A Chinese team recovered one body after entering about 300 metres into the Upper Trishuli-1 tunnel.
Indian teams at the Chilime Hydro tunnel recovered two bodies after reaching about 100 metres before a blockage.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said 11 hydropower stations and one solar station with 431.1 megawatts of capacity had stopped operating, and 15 projects under construction were damaged.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 06:43:55 UTC.
Update
Nepali authorities were continuing burials on Monday after taking DNA samples from bodies that had not all been identified.
Authorities began burials before completing identification because morgues were overwhelmed and lacked adequate freezing facilities.
A rescued Upper Trishuli-1 worker told AFP that one worker died after floodwater and debris submerged a turbine floor.
Nepal's foreign minister requested specialist help including heavy-lift drones, locating technology, forensic testing kits and freezer units.
Xinhua reported Chinese rescuers had advanced 285 metres toward Gyirong Port and still had 1.25 kilometres to go.
Source note: AFP news report published on 31 August 2026 at 02:38:52 UTC.
Update
More than 100 workers were believed to be trapped inside multiple hydropower tunnels.
Nepal's energy ministry said rescue teams had opened four holes into a tunnel before rescuers descended by rope.
Specialised teams from India, China and South Korea joined rescue efforts.
CCTV reported a new barrier lake forming near the Tibet border after a landslide 2.8 kilometres from a previously drained lake.
Nepal's foreign minister said reconstruction could cost billions of dollars.
Malaysia said it would send a search-and-rescue team and contribute $1 million to Nepal.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 August 2026 at 14:39:24 UTC.
Update
Nepal's disaster agency listed 1,910 Nepali citizens missing, including 562 in Rasuwa district.
Nepal said 592 foreigners were unaccounted for, while Chinese officials said at least 261 foreign nationals were unaccounted for in Tibet.
The State Department said about 85 US citizens were missing and nine had been rescued.
India said 275 citizens and 128 persons of Indian origin were missing; authorities in India recovered seven bodies from rivers flowing from Nepal but did not include them in the toll.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 August 2026 at 14:40:57 UTC.
Update
Authorities in Nepal and China put the combined toll at 797 confirmed deaths and 3,048 missing.
Nepal said it had begun burying some bodies after taking DNA samples for later identification.
Nepali Home Minister Sudan Gurung said rescuers had inserted a pipe into the Trishuli 3A tunnel and started sending air through it.
Chinese rescuers near Gyirong were moved to a safe location after a new lake formed by a landslide.
Nepal said 592 foreigners were among the missing.
The United States and Canada each pledged $3.6 million in humanitarian aid, the UK offered $6.8 million and the UN released $2.5 million.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 August 2026 at 14:17:55 UTC.
Update
Nepal's energy ministry said army engineers were attempting blasting operations at the Upper Trishuli 3A tunnel.
The prime minister's office said rescuers descended by rope through an opening and called out but received no response.
The energy ministry said the tunnel entrance being cleared is about 180 metres from the working space and rescuers with oxygen and a camera were being prepared.
South Korean tunnel-rescue teams have also joined the effort, along with Indian and Chinese teams.
A rescued worker from the Upper Trishuli-1 site said five workers were rescued from a turbine floor and one died.
Source note: AFP news report published on 30 August 2026 at 12:11:14 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
The exact cause of the glacial collapse remains unclear.
The full number and identities of missing people on the Tibetan side have not been publicly released by Chinese official media.
Figures from China and Nepal are reported by separate authorities and may be updated as search and identification work continues.
Source
AFP news report published on .