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

Nepal suspended search and rescue efforts on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions and urgently called for technical assistance to cope with devastating floods that tore through an area near the border with China's Tibet.

So far, 626 people have been confirmed dead, while 2,426 remain unaccounted for, including hundreds of tourists and pilgrims from India, Malaysia, the US, Britain, and other countries. China reported that the death toll in Tibet was seven, with 554 people missing.

"Search and rescue operations have been temporarily halted because it is raining and the weather is foggy," said Narendra Pariyar, the chief district officer for Nepal's Rasuwa district. He added that the focus was currently on arranging transport to evacuate those rescued to Kathmandu.

Nepal has mobilised more than 15,000 military and police personnel to take part in challenging rescue missions, including in settlements filled with sludge and at hydropower plants where workers have been trapped in tunnels. Officials stated that the country requires overseas assistance to rescue flood victims trapped in tunnels and to re-establish transport and communication lines in locations where bridges have been destroyed.

"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. He added that the nation also needs help with DNA testing, storage, and the formal identification of recovered bodies.

Dozens of survivors are receiving treatment at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in the capital. The walls were covered with photographs of the dead and missing, while more than 60 people gathered to await news of their loved ones after registering their details with nearby police officers.

"There is not much hope," said Resham Tamang, 28, who visits the hospital daily in search of five missing friends and relatives who had been working in Rasuwa. "It's already been four days and there's been no contact."

Gopal Thapa, managing director of Leaf Holidays, Treks and Expeditions, stated that 55 people travelling with his company remain missing—46 clients and nine employees. Among them is his 34-year-old brother, a father of two who was guiding the group.

"I spoke to my brother at around 8.30am Nepal time on Wednesday, August 26," Mr Thapa said. "After that there is no connection."

The family of Jiwan Jyoti, an engineer from Boston who travelled to Nepal on a pilgrimage for her 50th birthday, is also clinging to hope. She was last known to be at Hotel Kailash in Rasuwagadhi, near the Chinese border.

"The last thing we want is for them to give up hope," a family member said. "For that 1 per cent hope, we don't want the officials to give up on the situation."

India has sent three flights carrying about 60 tonnes of relief material to Nepal, including blankets, medicine, food, and water purification tablets, and plans to dispatch a tunnel rescue team and a medical team. New Delhi has also offered its disaster response force and prefabricated bridges to help restore connectivity, according to the Foreign Ministry.

On Saturday, Nepal's Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle estimated that the country would need approximately $4 to $5 billion to rebuild following the destruction caused by the flood, which occurred after a glacier collapsed, sending a massive torrent of rock, ice, mud, and debris through mountain river systems.

Rescue efforts were briefly paused on Saturday when a lake formed by the flood began to overflow into Nepal's Lhende Khola and Trishuli rivers. China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported that one of the monitored lakes was receding, though government experts warned it might remain unstable and noted that over 100 glacial lakes in the region could still pose a threat.