Summary

  • A head teacher's quick decision to evacuate his school saved 900 pupils from deadly flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border

  • Rajendra Dawadi tells the BBC he was tipped off about incoming flood waters and moved students to higher ground with just minutes to spare

  • One pupil says she and her friends survived "by just 10 seconds" and watched as a nearby bazaar was swept away

  • Wednesday's disaster has killed at least 794 people and more than 2,500 people are missing in Nepal, local officials say

  • In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported to be missing, according to Chinese state media - rescuers are struggling to find survivors, our correspondent says

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  1. Desperate relatives search for news of loved ones by torchlightpublished at 15:39 BST

    Night has fallen in Nepal but people continue to look through lists of survivors, using torches on their phones as they desperately seek information about loved ones.

    Rescue and relief efforts have continued throughout the day. But as the death toll rises, police have also been seen transporting bodies to a mass burial site.

    Meanwhile, some have been pictured returning to their homes to inspect the damage.

    People look through the lists of survivors outside Maithili Barrack army training centreImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    People look through the lists of survivors outside Maithili Barrack army training centre

    A member of the security personnel and a volunteer sort out relief suppliesImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A member of the security personnel and a volunteer sort out relief supplies

    Police stop for water as they work on transporting bodies to a mass burial site in the town of DevghatImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Police stop for water as they work on transporting bodies to a mass burial site in the town of Devghat

    A man inspects his damaged house following the flash floodsImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A man inspects his damaged house

  2. Tunnel rescue efforts 'intensified' with 90 rescuers deployed - PM's officepublished at 15:08 BST

    An undated handout photo from the Nepal Army of rescue workers taking part in a rescue operation near the tunnel of the Trishuli-3A hydropower projectImage source, Reuters

    The prime minister's office in Nepal says tunnel rescue efforts have been "intensified" at the Trishuli-3A hydropower site, including "blasting operations".

    Writing on X, it says a joint team of 90 people has been deployed, including armed forces, police, and rescuers with trained dogs.

    A 2x3ft hole (0.6x0.9m) was created in the crown of the tunnel earlier, with rescuers descending on ropes. They "received no response from inside" when they called out.

    Operations have continued, with the team "working tirelessly around the clock" despite "difficult and risky conditions", the PM's office says.

    Of the more than 2,500 missing people, hundreds are believed to be workers in Nepal's hydropower sites.

  3. Death toll rises to 794 in Nepalpublished at 14:25 BST
    Breaking

    The number of bodies recovered since Wednesday has increased to 794 as of 17:45 local time on Sunday (13:00 BST), Nepal Police says in its latest updated.

    In a separate update, the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA) says 781 people have been killed and 2,502 remain missing.

    As a reminder, over the last few days information has been coming in from multiple agencies in Nepal and official figures don't always match up.

  4. Hundreds of foreign nationals still missing in border regionpublished at 13:49 BST

    Tourists from all over the world come to Nepal for its mountains and sacred sites.

    Reports of those missing include the following:

    • India - at least 320 Indian nationals are missing, the foreign ministry in Delhi says
    • China - The Chinese foreign ministry says nearly 100 Chinese nationals are missing in Nepal
    • US - 90 Americans are still missing, the US state department says
    • Ukraine - 62 Ukrainian nationals are missing, Nepalese police say
    • Malaysia - 51 Malaysians travelling with Fishtail Tours and Travels are missing in the floods, officials say
    • Australia - 41 Australians are unaccounted for, according to the country's assistant immigration minister
    • UK - Nepal's police say 33 British nationals are missing; Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also reports 15 British nationals are among the missing in Tibet - it is unclear how many of those are included in the figure reported by Nepal
    • Canada - 30 Canadians are missing, says the country's foreign ministry

    Smaller numbers of travellers from South Korea, South Africa, Portugal, the Netherlands and New Zealand are also among the missing.

  5. 'We survived by seconds' - school pupil describes evacuationpublished at 13:17 BST

    Ashok Dahal and Kamal Pariyar
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot district

    One of the 900 students saved by the headteacher's decision was 16-year-old Yunisha, who says she escaped only moments before the flood.

    "I, along with my friends, survived by just 10 seconds," she tells the BBC.

    Yunisha describes running up a narrow and muddy route behind the school with other students. "Within no time, the bazaar was swept away in front of my eyes", she adds.

    Yunisha, who was interviewed alongside her mother Sabina Shrestha, says the family spent hours desperately trying to contact her after hearing news of the flood.

    Yunisha pictured alongside her parents. Her mother, Sabina, is on the far right of the picture.

    "I was panicking. I tried multiple calls to my daughter and her father, but both were not reachable."

    When she finally got through, Shrestha recalls feeling some relief. But the family remained anxious until Yunisha returned home - three days later.

    "I am so happy and relieved. God saved my girl."

  6. Nepali headteacher's decision saved 900 pupils from floodspublished at 13:07 BST

    Ashok Dahal and Kamal Pariyar
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot district

    Rajendra Dawad pictured wearing a light blue shirt

    The headteacher of a Nepali school devastated by floods says he was prompted to evacuate around 900 pupils to safety after receiving a series of calls warning against the risk of a flood in the area.

    Rajendra Dawadi, who leads Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot - which has a total student population of just over 1,600 - says he received four warnings from different people within minutes.

    Media caption,

    Teacher saved the lives of 900 students after phone call warning of flood

    Among these calls were reports that floodwaters had already swept through the upstream settlement of Betrawati.

    That's when he made the call. "I decided I shouldn't delay any more. Even if the flood was not coming, it was just a matter of a single day's classes," he tells the BBC.

    As they evacuated to higher ground, Dawadi could see a hostel building about 100m (328ft) from the river being engulfed by floodwaters.

    "If we had made the decision 10 minutes later, all of us, including the students and me, would not be able to speak to you today."

  7. At least 788 killed by floods - Nepal Policepublished at 12:58 BST

    Nepal Police says that 788 people have died following the flash floods.

    This follows an earlier report from Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA), which says that 752 people have been killed.

    As a reminder, information is coming from multiple different agencies in Nepal and official figures don't always match up.

  8. Officials in Tibet say rescue teams are struggling to find survivorspublished at 12:40 BST

    Stephen McDonell
    China correspondent

    It is pretty grim news from the Tibetan side of the border.

    According to officials in Shigatse, the rescue teams are not finding anyone alive.

    They have been looking for days and on the fifth day of the emergency chances of finding any other survivors are becoming very small.

    With 546 people missing - around half of those foreign nationals - that means the death toll will go up in Tibet.

    However, engineers are close to establishing a road link to the worst-hit area after a powerful wave of water and mud destroyed infrastructure in the region.

    Sadly, though you have to think that by the time that link is re-established it will be too late for the hundreds of people still missing.

  9. Helicopters airlift heavy machinery to assist in tunnel rescuepublished at 12:15 BST

    The Nepali Army has just shared footage on X of helicopters airlifting heavy equipment to the flood-affected hydropower tunnel area.

    The machinery can be seen dangling from the end of a long rope.

    A separate video - also shared by the army - shows workers clearing debris near the Trishuli-3A tunnel.

    Media caption,

    Helicopter airlifts equipment to site of tunnel rescue

  10. Crews pump air into blocked tunnel where workers believed trappedpublished at 11:36 BST

    Part of the rescue effort is focused on reaching workers believed to be trapped in hydropower tunnels, with efforts currently under way at the Trishuli-3A site.

    Home Minister Sudan Gurung shared an update on Facebook yesterday saying rescuers had managed to reach the "crown" of the tunnel and had started pumping air through a small hole.

    He said they would "now start digging and send a rescue team inside".

    In a separate update also issued yesterday, Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said communication had so far not been established.

    Rain has complicated efforts, with Shrestha saying there was a risk the operation would need to be temporarily suspended due to "increasing water flow".

    India and China have both sent experts to help in tunnel operations.

    Of the 2,502 people reported missing overall, hundreds are workers at the country's hydropower projects, according to Nepal's disaster agency.

    The younger brother of one hydropower worker tells Reuters he has been searching for him for days "without getting any sleep". He adds: "I believe there are many other families like mine who are suffering."

  11. Girl, 5, reunited with parents after dramatic rescue from rubblepublished at 11:03 BST

    Azadeh Moshiri and Andrew Clarence
    Reporting from Kathmandu

    A young girl who was rescued on Friday, two days after devastating flash floods in Nepal, has been reunited with her parents in hospital.

    Manisha, 5, is in a stable condition, an official at the Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu tells us.

    Rescue workers were near Syabrubesi in Ruswa district looking for survivors when they thought they could hear a cat stuck under the rubble.

    Sanju Khatri, a police officer with Nepal's Armed Police Force says teams searched the area and started removing debris. That's when they found Manisha, who was trapped under the rubble.

    It took about two hours to rescue her - the video below shows the moment she was pulled alive from the rubble.

    She was alive but barely responsive, the official explains. The rescue team called for a chopper but due to bad weather conditions they were not able to evacuate her.

    Teams then took her to the force's rescue camp and gave her water. Manisha regained consciousness after a while and they started feeding her boiled rice water to revive her.

    She was traumatised, but on Saturday afternoon she was flown to the Teaching Hospital's paediatric emergency department in Kathmandu.

    In an update on Sunday, the hospital tells us Manisha is recovering.

  12. 'I'm trying to stay strong for them,' says son of missing couplepublished at 10:51 BST

    Anant Patel's parents, Bipin and Mala, were on a pilgrimage when the landslide occurred on the Nepal-Tibet border. He hasn't heard from them since the flash floods on Wednesday.

    Patel, who is from Coventry, tells the BBC he is staying strong, adding "I'm holding up as well as I can do".

  13. Death toll rises to 752, as number of missing surpasses 2,500published at 10:12 BST
    Breaking

    The death toll has risen to 752, according to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA).

    Earlier, the NDRRMA and Nepal police said 734 people had been confirmed dead.

    The agency reports that 2,502 are missing, up from 2,498 previously.

    The update is timestamped at 13:00 local time (07:15 GMT).

  14. Nepal-Tibet floods kill over 700 - the latest from officialspublished at 09:29 BST

    A resident tries to salvage belongings among damaged homes following flash floods along the banks of Trishuli river.Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

    Nepal

    Nepal's police and disaster management authority say 734 people have been confirmed dead following devastating flash floods on the border with Tibet on Wednesday.

    The latest figure, released this morning, is a rise from the 675 deaths reported yesterday.

    Nepal Police also report that 2,498 people are missing and 8,186 people have been rescued. The latest figures show that nearly 20,000 rescuers from the security forces have been deployed.

    Meanwhile, in its latest update the Nepal Tourism Board says that 261 foreign nationals have been rescued while 320 tourists are still not accounted for.

    Tibet

    Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reports that 16 people have died following the mudslide in Tibet. Officials had previously said that seven people had died.

    Our correspondent explainswhy China's strict control in Tibet makes it very difficult for us to know what is happening.

    CCTV adds that 546 people remain missing following the incident, including 261 foreigners from 23 countries - including 15 British nationals.

    Nepalese authorities have already reported that 33 British nationals are missing. Several of them are thought to have been making their way across the border to Tibet, so it is unclear how many of the British nationals reported as missing by Chinese authorities are included in the figure reported by Nepal.

    The BBC has contacted the Chinese foreign ministry and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

  15. Helicopter rescues continue as families still hoping for newspublished at 08:57 BST

    Army soldiers help people at the Maithili Barrack who were evacuated from areas affected by flash floods and a mudslideImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A child is carried to safety having been evacuated from a flood-hit area

    New pictures show the rescue operation continuing today - five days after the disaster.

    At an army barracks in Nuwakot district, soldiers could be seen escorting children to safety after evacuating them from flood-hit areas.

    Families of the missing have been waiting outside the camp, still desperately hoping for news of their loved ones.

    Helicopters are playing an essential role in the rescue operation, with Nepal's foreign minister saying yesterday that some areas had turned into "swampland".

    People watch a helicopter landing at the Maithili Barrack in the aftermath of flash floods and a mudslideImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    People watch a helicopter landing at the army barracks - families have been gathering in hope of news

    Nepali soldiers prepare helicopters for morning rescue operations at Trishuli in Nepal's Nuwakot districtImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Helicopters continue to play a vital role in the rescue operation

  16. A second flood could have serious impact even if it is smaller than the first, warns expertpublished at 08:24 BST

    Jacob Phillips
    Live reporter

    A drone view shows a man walking next to damaged buildings and houses. The street is completely covered in mudImage source, Reuters

    A flooding expert warns that the immediate concern in Nepal and Tibet is that the flash floods have created new risks.

    Jeff Da Costa, researcher in flood early warning and disaster risk at the University of Reading, tells me that debris from the disaster has blocked rivers and formed new lakes upstream.

    Similarly, infrastructure in the area is seriously damaged, meaning that "a second flood does not have to be as large as the first to cause serious impacts," he says.

    Da Costa says monitoring how lakes and barriers in the area are changing and tracking where they may burst "now matters enormously".

    The researcher adds it is important for China and Nepal to share monitoring information as "what happens upstream can affect people across the border very quickly".

    "Information has to move just as quickly and lead to practical decisions on the ground," he adds.

    Da Costa also describes how climate change is important background context for the disaster because warming is changing glaciers, permafrost and slope stability across the Himalayas.

    But he says the disaster can not be attributed to climate change without further analysis.

  17. 'Chances of survival may be slim, but we're holding onto hope for my brother'published at 07:41 BST

    Simon Atkinson
    Australia reporter

    The sister of an Australian man missing in Nepal say they are "holding onto hope while also trying to prepare our hearts for whatever comes".

    Michael Keats, an outdoor educator from New South Wales, was initially thought to be away from the disaster zone, but relatives later learned he was at the immigration centre at the Nepal-Tibet border when the tragedy hit.

    His sister, Karen Hayley, describes him as "the absolute light of our lives" and says he was travelling through Nepal "as part of a deeply significant spiritual pilgrimage to Mount Kailash".

    "This was a journey Michael had planned, dreamed of and longed to experience for a long time," she wrote on Instagram.

    "Although we are painfully aware that Michael’s chances of survival may be slim our family is still desperately waiting for answers."

    She adds the family are "holding onto hope while also trying to prepare our hearts for whatever comes".

  18. Why it's hard to assess the scale of disaster in Tibetpublished at 07:21 BST

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent

    Rescue workers clad in orange uniform, helmets and gloves prepare to conduct search and rescue operations at Gyirong Port on August 28, 2026 in GyirongImage source, VCG via Getty Images

    Tibet, which China annexed in the 1950s, is one of the most strictly controlled regions in the country.

    It has long demanded greater autonomy and is heavily monitored because Beijing fears any signs of instability such as protests.

    That is why orders have come personally from the top leader Xi Jinping and why Premier Li Qiang visited the site on Thursday. It is rare for him to make a visit so soon after a major disaster.

    To get into Tibet requires a special visa and it is difficult, if not impossible, for foreign media to gain entry. Trying to contact people there is just as hard.

    This makes it very difficult for us to know what is happening and we are relying heavily on reports from Chinese state media.

    Pilgrims making their way from Nepal through Tibet to the sacred mountain of Mount Kailash need four separate permits, which includes special permission from the Chinese military.

  19. China monitoring new barrier lake, and poised to raise alarm should it overflowpublished at 07:09 BST

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent

    As we've just reported, rescue teams on the Tibetan border have been moved to safety after a drone monitoring the region spotted yet another landslide.

    Reports from state media, citing China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, said a monitoring drone had detected the landslide downstream of a lake which has been formed within the rubble and debris.

    This has now formed a second so-called barrier lake.

    These bodies of water are being assessed by experts, according to the state broadcaster’s report.

    Fears of flooding from the lake have already sparked panic on both sides of the border earlier this week. On Friday, ice and snow fell from the mountain and into the lake causing it to overflow.

    Experts in China have been monitoring its levels since then and have set up observation posts to raise an alarm should it overflow.

  20. New barrier lake forms after landslide, Chinese state media reportspublished at 06:49 BST
    Breaking

    A new lake has formed in Tibet after a landslide occurred downstream of the existing barrier lake, Chinese state media says.

    A barrier lake is a body of water formed when debris dams up a river. An existing barrier lake, which formed in the aftermath of the flash floods, had reportedly been depleting naturally following concerns it could result in more flooding.

    Chinese Central TV (CCTV) says a monitoring drone detected a landslide on Saturday, which then resulted in debris forming a new blockage and a new barrier lake.

    The landslide is reported to have occurred about 2.8 kilometres (1.7 miles) downstream of the barrier lake on the Pruqpu Qiang Zangbu River.

    China's Ministry of Emergency Management quickly gathered experts to assess the situation and rescuers near the Gyirong Port have been moved to a safe location, it adds.