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Asia / Pacific
Issued on: 30/08/2026 – 06:59Modified: 30/08/2026 – 07:35
A family member looks on as a vehicle carrying bodies parks upon its arrival at a temporary holding centre, where the bodies of victims are kept following devastating flash floods and a mudslide, in Bharatpur, Chitwan, Nepal August 30, 2026. © Navesh Chitrakar, Reuters
At least 750 people have died and more than 3,000 remain missing after devastating floods struck Nepal and Tibet near the Chinese border, local authorities said Sunday. Rescue efforts are entering a fifth day, with heavy overnight rain and rising river waters hampering operations to reach hydropower workers believed to be trapped in tunnels. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
30/08/2026 – 07:29Rescuers moved after new lake forms in mudslide-hit area of Tibet, Chinese state media reports
Chinese rescuers near the Tibet border port that was hit by a deadly mudslide were “moved to a safe location” Sunday, after a new lake was formed by a landslide, state media reported. “On the evening of Aug 29, monitoring drones deployed in the area detected a landslide on a mountainside 2.8 kilometers downstream from the Purepuqiang Tsangpo barrier lake,” the state broadcaster said, referring to a drained lake that had in previous days threatened rescue operations.”The landslide formed a new barrier and a new barrier lake is now forming,” CCTV said, adding that rescue personnel near the Gyirong border port had been moved to safer areas.
30/08/2026 – 07:17Rain, rising rivers hamper Nepal tunnel rescue
Nepali rescuers seeking to reach hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris were hampered Sunday by heavy overnight rain and rising river waters.Nepal’s government says more than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.They are among 933 hydropower workers missing since a wall of mud and debris swept down on Wednesday morning, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.At Trishuli 3A, army rescue teams using drills broke through Saturday evening into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel and began pumping air and sending a camera inside.But overnight rain and rising river waters hampered efforts at that site.”Heavy rainfall after around 2:00 am (2015 GMT) caused the water level in the river to rise, and also fill in the excavation area,” the Nepal Army said Sunday morning, as rescue efforts entered their fifth day.Photographs shared by the disaster office showed workers wading through churned mud and navigating vast boulders left by the floods.
30/08/2026 – 06:56China identifies countries of foreign nationals missing
China on Sunday said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were missing on the Tibetan side of a border crossing with Nepal following a mudslide which tore through the Himalayan region, while the death toll in ?Tibet has ?reached 16 people.Officials from China’s Tibet Autonomous Region said at a press conference ?that the highest number of missing foreigners was from Nepal at 104, while 49 Indian, 33 Latvian, 18 American and 15 British citizens were also unaccounted ?for. They said authorities in Beijing have notified foreign missions.The nationality breakdown was the first ?from the Chinese side since the collapse of a glacier on Wednesday unleashed a torrent of ice, rock, mud and debris down Himalayan rivers.
30/08/2026 – 06:55Nepal flood death toll rises to 750, disaster authority says
Devastating floods near the border with China killed at least 734 people in Nepal and 2,498 remain missing, its disaster authority said Sunday, as rescue efforts entered a fifth day. Chinese state media had earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following Wednesday’s disaster. That takes the overall toll to 750 dead and 3,044 missing.