Summary

  • Nepal says it is "intensifying" efforts to free hundreds of people trapped in a tunnel at the country's Trishuli-3A hydropower site following Wednesday's flash floods

  • Crews - including experts from China and India - have been attempting to make contact but have so far received no response from inside the tunnel, officials say

  • Hundreds of the 2,500 people reported missing are believed to be employees of Nepal's hydropower sites

  • 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. Residents in Rasuwa say they are without electricity and suppliespublished at 19:30 BST

    Gani Ansari
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Kathmandu

    Helicopters are pictured on a hill with fog in a valley belowImage source, RSS
    Image caption,

    Officials say that relief distribution is being coordinated from the district headquarters in Dhunche in Rasuwa

    Several days since the floods hit, residents in Nepal's Rasuwa district say they are still cut off from basic services and have yet to receive relief.

    Rasuwa lies upstream and closer to the location of the landslide. It bore the brunt of the flooding, with roads washed away. More than four days later, residents say they are still isolated.

    "There is no electricity, no roads to go anywhere, and relief has not reached here," Hembe Tamang, 40, from Aamachhodingmo Rural Municipality, told me by phone. Tamang's son-in-law is among those missing after the floods.

    With power still out, many residents say they have struggled to stay in touch with relatives. A solar panel at the municipal office has become one of the few places where people can charge their phones, often after waiting for hours.

    Health workers have also warned that supplies are running low, with enough food remaining for a day or two and gas completely gone.

    Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says aid is being delivered where roads remain passable, while work is under way to reopen routes and reach communities still cut off by the floods.

    Map of central Nepal showing four of the worst-hit districts: Gorkha, Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. A marker north of Rasuwa, across the border in Tibet, indicates the location of a large landslide. Kathmandu is shown to the south of the affected area. An inset map locates the region within Asia.
  2. Nearly 300 foreign nationals rescued - Nepal Tourism Boardpublished at 18:26 BST

    The Nepal Tourism Board says 289 foreign nationals have been rescued since the floods hit earlier in the week.

    Another 591 are out of communication as of 18:00 local time (13:15 BST), the board adds.

    "Search, rescue, evacuation and assistance operations are continuing for those who remain stranded, injured or otherwise affected," it says in its latest statement.

  3. Missing British couple crossed border to Tibet, son tells BBCpublished at 17:33 BST

    Sean Dilley
    BBC correspondent

    Undated photo of Kavita Haldia (51) & Pavan Haldia (52) from BromleyImage source, Supplied

    Prajval Haldia, from south London, says the UK Foreign Office has updated him on his parents' whereabouts prior to Wednesday's floods.

    The Foreign Office tells him that, according to information from the Chinese government, Pavan and Kavita Haldia completed immigration at the Gyirong Port and were registered as missing on the Tibetan side of the border.

    The Londoner had dropped his parents off at the airport for their trip to Kathmandu. He knew they were planning to visit Mount Kailash, but hadn't heard of their whereabouts since news of the floods.

    "This is a significant development in our search," Haldia tells the BBC. He goes on to call on the British government and relevant authorities to "collaborate as much as they possibly can with their Chinese counterparts at this time".

    Haldia continues to hold on to hope for his parents' safe return, voicing gratitude "for every effort being made to locate them".

  4. Flood survivors share stories of hope as rescue efforts continuepublished at 16:52 BST

    Malu Cursino
    Live reporter

    We've heard stories through the day of hope and relief from survivors of the deadly floods near the Nepal-Tibet border, offering some light as crews work around the clock to respond to the disaster.

    The head teacher of a school in Nuwakot told BBC Nepali about his decision to evacuate 900 pupils to safety after receiving a series of calls warning of floods in the area.

    Media caption,

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

    Sixteen-year-old Yunisha - a pupil at the school - says her and her friends survived "by just 10 seconds". Her mother, Sabina Shrestha, recalled the worry and relief she felt once her daughter returned home - three days later.

    In the capital Kathmandu, a five-year-old girl rescued on Friday (two days after devastating flash floods) was reunited with her parents in hospital. Staff at the Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu say the girl, identified as Manisha, is in a stable condition.

    The scale of destruction in Nepal continues to come into focus, five days on. Police say more than 790 people have been killed by the floods. Elsewhere, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says at least 2,502 people are still missing.

    Rescue efforts are under way near Nepal's Trishuli-3A hydropower site, with crew pumping air into a tunnel where workers are believed to be trapped.

    The PM's office says a team of 90 - including armed forces, police and rescuers with trained dogs - were deployed. But so far, they have "received no response from inside".

    In Tibet 16 people are confirmed dead and 546 others are missing, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.

    Officials in Shigatse say rescue teams are not finding anyone alive, the BBC's China correspondent writes. China annexed Tibet in the 1950s and their strict control of the region makes it difficult for us to know what is happening on the ground.

  5. Thirty-two injured as bus carrying evacuees crashespublished at 16:10 BST

    A bus carrying people rescued after the flood in Rasuwa crashed in Danda, east of Nawalparasi, according to Nepal's National News Committee.

    The bus was travelling the capital Kathmandu to Bardiya, in south-west Nepal.

    Thirty-two of the 38 passengers were injured, the outlet adds.

    Of those, 27 have already been discharged after being treated, and five remain in hospital, says Deputy Superintendent of Police Anil Pandit of the Nawalpur East District Police Office.

  6. 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

  7. 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.

  8. 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 update.

    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.

  9. 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.

  10. '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."

  11. 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."

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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

  15. 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."

  16. 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.

  17. '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".

  18. 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).

  19. 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.

  20. 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