Nepal Seeks International Assistance as Severe Weather Halts Search for Thousands Missing in Catastrophic Floods

Nepal suspended search and rescue efforts on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions and urgently called for technical assistance to manage the catastrophic floods that devastated the region near the border with China's Tibet.

The confirmed death toll has reached 626, while 2,426 individuals remain unaccounted for. Among the missing are numerous tourists and pilgrims from countries including India, Malaysia, the US, and Britain. Meanwhile, China reported seven fatalities and 554 missing individuals in Tibet.

“Search and rescue operations have been temporarily halted because it is raining and the weather is foggy,” stated Narendra Pariyar, the chief district officer for Nepal's Rasuwa district, noting that current efforts are focused on arranging transport to evacuate survivors to Kathmandu.

Nepal has deployed over 15,000 military and police personnel for demanding rescue missions in mud-filled settlements and at hydropower plants where workers have been trapped inside tunnels. Officials stressed the critical need for overseas expertise to rescue victims trapped in tunnels and to restore transport and communication lines where bridges have collapsed.

“We have already made requests for such specialised services and technical assistance in areas where we don't have enough expertise and technical know-how,” said Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, adding that international support is also required for DNA testing, storage, and the formal identification of recovered bodies.

At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, dozens of survivors are receiving medical treatment. Hospital walls are covered with photographs of the dead and missing as families gather anxiously for news. “There is not much hope,” shared Resham Tamang, who has searched daily for five missing friends and relatives. Gopal Thapa, managing director of Leaf Holidays, Treks and Expeditions, reported that 55 people traveling with his company—including 46 clients, nine employees, and his 34-year-old brother—remain missing. Among other missing individuals is Jiwan Jyoti, an engineer from Boston who was visiting Nepal on a pilgrimage.

In response to the crisis, India has dispatched three flights carrying approximately 60 tonnes of relief supplies, such as blankets, medicine, food, and water purification tablets, with plans to send additional tunnel rescue and medical teams, disaster response units, and prefabricated bridges. Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle estimated the total reconstruction cost at $4 to $5 billion following the disaster, which was triggered by a glacier collapse that sent a massive torrent of rock, ice, mud, and debris down mountain river systems.

Rescue operations faced further brief interruptions on Saturday as a flood-formed lake began overflowing into the Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers. While China's Xinhua news agency reported that one monitored lake is receding, government experts warn that instability remains a concern, with over 100 glacial lakes in the surrounding area continuing to pose potential risks.