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People pray as they place candles and flowers at the Devghat mass burial site for the victims of the deadly flash floods and mudslides as it rains in Chitwan, on September 1, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Devastating floods on the China-Nepal border have killed at least 1,050 people in Nepal, the disaster authority said on Tuesday (September 1, 2026), with nearly 4,000 more missing. Security forces are recovering more bodies from eight districts of the country, officials said. Around 4,000 people remain missing, while nearly 12,000 have been rescued, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said.

ALSO READ | Nepal disaster, a grim reminder to rethink preparedness | Data

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Tuesday said that the devastating flood that entered Rasuwa through the Bhotekoshi River bordering Tibet last week was due to climate change.

“There is no doubt that climate change has caused this disaster, as it has been confirmed that the temperature in the Himalayan region has increased by 1.8 degrees,” he said in a post on social media.

Flash floods, triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal on August 26. The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

As many as 321 bodies were recovered in Chitwan district, followed by 216 in Nawalparasi East, 170 in Nawalparasi West, 95 in Nuwakot, 65 in Gorkha, 57 in Dhading, 41 in Rasuwa and 38 in Tanahun, according to NDRRMA.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Tuesday (September 1) said that the devastating flood that entered Rasuwa through the Bhotekoshi River bordering Tibet last week was due to climate change.

Shah further said that climate change is a global challenge and disaster response remains a global responsibility.

“This incident points towards the growing risk we have to bear as the consequences of climate change in the Himalayas,” he said.

The number of Indian nationals rescued in the wake of the devastating flash floods in Nepal stands at 163, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday (September 1), as India sustained its relief and rescue efforts in coordination with Nepalese authorities.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared the update in a post on X. He also shared updates on a 19-member specialised forensics team from India that began functioning in Kathmandu on Sunday, as well as a tunnel rescue team deployed in Nepal in a statement shared along with the post.

Tunnel rescue team: After establishing a foothold at hydropower tunnels in Chilime, the Indian tunnel rescue team had to overcome several challenges such as extremely restricted access space, limitations on use of specialised equipment due to terrain, and a marshy tunnel floor.

“Using innovative methods and improvised floats, the team was able to move deeper in the tunnel. Its efforts will continue tomorrow to try and rescue any individuals that may be trapped inside,” the statement said.

After days of searching shelters and morgues, many Nepali families held symbolic funeral ceremonies on Tuesday (September 1) to “liberate the souls” of loved ones missing since the deadly flash floods last week.

Rozel Shrestha, 12, set fire to a tiny effigy made of straw and barley, representing his missing father, at Kathmandu’s Pashupati temple on the banks of the Bagmati river.

His father, 37-year-old Krishna Shrestha, was in the worst-hit Rasuwa district when the floods struck on Wednesday. He has been missing ever since.

“We searched everywhere, went to morgues across the country, but could not find his body,” his brother Jeevan Shrestha told AFP.

“So the family sat down... and decided we have to do our traditional rituals to liberate his soul.”

Devastating floods on the China-Nepal border have killed at least 1,050 people in Nepal, the disaster authority said on Tuesday (September 1), with nearly 4,000 more missing.

Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 people were killed in Tibet, taking the total toll from Wednesday’s disaster to 1,066.

Midway through their return from the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, a couple from Maharashtra’s Thane district was shattered by the news of the Nepal floods, finding it impossible to process that the very people who had assisted them just days earlier were no longer alive.

The couple, Prakash Mane and his wife Pratibha, residents of Dombivli in the district, safely returned home on Sunday after being stranded amidst flash floods and landslides along the Nepal-China border during their Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

They were part of a group of 43 Indian pilgrims from Maharashtra. Sharing their experience upon arriving at their Dombivli residence, where friends and family gathered for an emotional welcome, Prakash Mane recalled the sequence of events.

“We had crossed the Timure border checkpoint (on the Nepal-Tibet border) after completing all necessary immigration formalities and proceeded towards Lake Mansarovar. While we were having darshan of Mount Kailash, news of a natural disaster in the region began to trickle in,” he told reporters.

The 19-member Indian Forensic Team began DNA sample analysis in collaboration with their Nepali counterparts at the Nepal Police Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the National Forensic Science Laboratory, Khumaltar, Kathmandu, for the identification of those affected by the recent flash floods.

A budding Nepali cricketer undergoing training at a cricket academy here is struggling to cope after four of his friends were reported missing following a tragedy in his village in Nepal, officials said on Tuesday (September 1).

Mohan Khatri, a native of Triveni village in Nepal, has enrolled at the K.K. Sharma Cricket Academy in Agra. He learnt that 12 people from his village were present at the site of the tragedy and have gone missing since the incident.

Among those missing are his four friends - Ram (19), Hari (18), Shyam (19) and Dinesh (19) - with whom he used to play cricket, Mr. Khatri said.

“12 people from my village were present at the place where the tragedy occurred. All of them are missing, and there is no information about them,” Mr. Khatri said.

The Himalayan ‌region faces severe risks from future glacial floods, a senior U.N. official has warned, as the death toll from last week’s ⁠flood in Nepal, triggered by a glacier’s collapse, surpassed 1,000.

Not only is the hydroelectric power that many depend on threatened, but entire riverbanks where millions live might become effectively uninhabitable.

“Technology ‌cannot move fast enough to prevent loss along these massive river systems that catch the overflow of the glacier lakes,” Kanni Wignaraja, ‌an assistant secretary-general at the U.N., told Reuters in an interview.

Researchers identified ‌47 ⁠potentially dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal, China and India in ⁠2020. The real number has since been estimated to be significantly higher.

A devastating glacial collapse in Nepal that unleashed deadly floods was a “warning signal” over the growing risks climate change poses to the Himalayan nation, its foreign minister told AFP on Tuesday.

“We believe that this disaster should be seen as a warning signal to the risk that climate change poses to Nepal,” Shisir Khanal said in an interview with AFP nearly a week since the tsunami-like wave of freezing water, rocks and debris carved a trail of destruction.

More than 1,000 bodies have been recovered, and nearly 4,500 people are missing in Nepal as well as across the Chinese border in Tibet.

Twenty-year-old Anush Gurung is searching for his 60-year-old father, Laxman, who has been missing since the August 26 flash floods struck the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district.

Anush’s last conversation with his father happened around 8 am that day. Then came the flash floods and Laxman went missing. The family has received conflicting accounts from Laxman’s colleagues - the ones who survived the disaster - about whether he was inside the tunnel when the floods swept through the area. The Kathmandu Post reported on Tuesday (September 1).

“Whom are we supposed to believe? If the tunnel is searched, we would know for certain,” Anush told the newspaper. “Now our only hope is inside the tunnel.” Flash floods, triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal on August 26. The Bhotekoshi River, which flows south from the Himalayan border region, carried the floodwaters downstream, sweeping away homes, vehicles, roads and bridges and damaging hydropower projects.

Nepal has launched a diplomatic push to seek climate-related compensation from greenhouse gas emitters for the devastation caused by the recent deadly flash floods, asserting that post-disaster assistance should be treated as a matter of “moral liability”, “not charity”.

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said Nepal, despite contributing “virtually negligible” greenhouse gas emissions, is bearing the disproportionate consequences of global warming, including rapid glacier melt and extreme mountain disasters.

“We are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create. The rapid melting of glaciers and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change,” he said in an interview with Kantipur TV, the excerpts of which were published by The Kathmandu Post newspaper today.

Mr. Khanal said Nepal is shifting its diplomatic framework from “aid” to “justice and compensation”.

The death toll from the devastating flash floods in Nepal surged to 1,003 today, with security forces recovering more bodies from eight districts of the country, officials said.

Around 4,000 people remain missing, while nearly 12,000 have been rescued, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said.

Debris from a bridge damaged by flash flooding lies along the banks of the swollen Trishuli River at 1 Number Pul, in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Nepal's Environment Minister urges prioritization of climate justice following devastating floods, emphasizing global recognition of mountain issues.

Indian students hold banner and offer tributes to the victims of Nepal flash floods, at a school in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. 'Tribute' written in the Gujarati by flower petals.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Scores of women queued at a school sheltering Nepal flood victims, jostling to receive personal-care supplies, as concerns over sanitation and menstrual hygiene mount days after the catastrophic disaster.

Thousands of people displaced by the flash floods are living in temporary relief camps, their homes either washed away by rivers or buried under silt and mud.

While authorities and aid groups have ensured that they have a roof over their heads and food to eat, many women at a school camp in Nuwakot district said they have had to contend with inadequate toilet facilities and unsanitary conditions.

“There are privacy as well as sanitation concerns,” said Anju Bhujel, 40, who has been living at the camp with her two young children after the family home was swept away.

At least 1,003 people ⁠have died in ‌Nepal ‌in ‌the ⁠devastating ⁠flash flood that hit ‌the Himalayan country’s border region ‌with China last ⁠week, Nepal’s disaster ‌management authority said today.

People watch as earthmovers clear debris along the swollen Trishuli River in the aftermath of flash flooding at 1 Number Pul, in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Krishna Khadka bows his head next to the body of his 21-year-old son Aayush Khadka, who lost his life during the deadly flash floods and a mudslide, before his cremation inside the cremation ground, in Chitwan, Nepal, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Exiled Tibetans and advocacy groups have accused China of heavily underreporting the death toll from devastating flooding in border regions with Nepal, claims Beijing rejected as “malicious smearing and sensationalism”.

Foreign journalists are restricted from reporting from Tibet and Chinese authorities have a tight grip on information sources on the region.

Beijing’s state media reports that 16 people died in Tibet with 546 missing, and the Foreign Ministry insists that the release of information has been “open, transparent and timely”.

Nepal is battling a deluge of misinformation, alongside rescue and relief operations, as fake and AI-generated visuals inundated social media following the devastating flash floods, prompting the government to order 72 users to remove inappropriate content over the past few days.

The move comes as social media platforms have been inundated with dramatic videos and images purportedly showing the destruction caused by the flash floods in the Himalayan nation.

While some of the footage is genuine, fact-checkers have found that several widely circulated videos and images are from disasters in other countries, recycled from earlier events or generated or manipulated using artificial intelligence, the report said.

Rasuwa: Nepalese officials recover the mortal remains of victims during a search and rescue operation after the devastating flash floods, in Rasuwa, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)(PTI09_01_2026_000088A)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers attend a memorial service for the victims of the Aug. 26 mudslide at the Xigaze Public Security Bureau in Gyirong County, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Tenzin Nyida/Xinhua via AP)

A healthcare worker holds his colleague's head during a break after handing the bodies of victims who perished in the flash floods and a mudslide, at the Maithili Barrack, an army training center, in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, Nepal, September 1, 2026. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

India’s specialised tunnel rescue team made progress at two hydropower sites in flood-hit Nepal, establishing a foothold inside a tunnel at Chilime and probing up to 185 metres at Langtang, the Indian envoy in Kathmandu has said.

The team worked at the Chilime and Langtang sites in coordination with the Nepali Army despite inclement weather and difficult access conditions, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava said in a post on X yesterday.

China ‌will send DNA ⁠testing experts to disaster ‌hit areas ‌at ‌the ⁠Nepal-China ⁠border as well as a second ‌batch of relief supplies ‌later today, its Foreign Ministry ⁠said, adding ‌that equipment would include drones and ‌water purification.

Nepalese authorities today issued a fresh alert over the risk of floods in several districts across eastern, central and western parts of the country, urging people living near rivers to remain vigilant and take precautionary measures.

There is a high possibility of flash floods in Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts, where water flow in smaller rivers and streams is expected to rise, according to a notice issued by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA).

There is also a risk of rising water levels and a moderate risk of flash floods in several districts, including Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Sindhupalchowk, Kavrepalanchok, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kathmandu and Dhading in eastern and central Nepal.

In western Nepal, the districts under alert include Gorkha, Lamjung, Dolpa, Rukum East, Rukum West, Jajarkot, Darchula, Baitadi, Dadeldhura, Doti, Kailali and Kanchanpur, the authority said.

The NDRRMA urged people living along riverbanks and in other vulnerable areas to remain alert and take necessary precautions in view of the forecast.

The death toll from the devastating flash flood in Nepal rose to 987 today, with security forces recovering more bodies from different parts of the country, officials said.

The authorities estimate that 3,916 people, including 583 foreigners, remain unaccounted for as security personnel, including those from the Nepal Army, intensify search and rescue operations in the affected areas.

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), 321 bodies were recovered from Chitwan, 216 from Nawalparasi East, 170 from Nawalparasi West and 95 from Nuwakot.

Similarly, 65 bodies were recovered from Gorkha, 55 from Dhading, 38 from Tanahun and 27 from Rasuwa.

The flash flood has affected eight districts, the NDRRMA said, adding that of the 279 people injured, 168 have been discharged from various hospitals after treatment.

In Nepal’s capital, desperate people searching for family members missing after devastating floods post photographs on a wall, clinging to a final, fading hope of finding them.

Images of Nepalis and foreigners of all ages are plastered along a 25-metre (80-foot) wall, rising as high as possible -- even onto the columns outside TU Teaching Hospital.

Kathmandu [Nepal], Aug 31 (ANI): A man sticks photographs of his missing relative amongst the pictures of missing and deceased people pasted on a wall outside Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, following flash floods and mudslides, in Kathmandu, Nepal, August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Monika Malla

The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Nepal and China passed 1,000 today, authorities said, as rescue teams worked to reach communities cut off by the disaster.

Nepal’s disaster agency said today that 987 deaths had been counted there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreigners. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths in their most recent update on Sunday.

The Indian Embassy in Nepal today issued a detailed procedure for the identification and repatriation of mortal remains of foreign nationals, including Indians, killed in the devastating flash floods in the country.

The flash floods that triggered near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26 swept through northern and central Nepal, killing hundreds, leaving thousands missing and damaging homes, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.

The process also includes collection of fingerprints, DNA and other forensic samples, verification of the deceased’s passport or identity documents, completion of Embassy or consular coordination, and issuance of a handover or release memo and receipt, it said.

China, today, held memorial services for victims of the deadly flash flood that struck Gyirong county in Tibet near the Nepal border last week, as rescue and recovery operations continued in the disaster-hit region.

Memorial services were held at the Gyirong Port branch of the Xigaze Public Security Bureau and at the rescue sites, with rescuers, local officials and residents observing silence in memory of those killed, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Rescue workers, local officials and residents stand in silence during a memorial service to mourn the victims of the August 26 mudslide, in Gyirong county, Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China September 1, 2026. cnsphoto via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT.

More than 11,000 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas in Nepal so far, with over 22,000 security personnel mobilised for search-and-rescue operations, officials said today.

As of yesterday, the death toll from the devastating flash floods was 939, while around 4,000 people were still missing.

At least 16 helicopters have also been deployed for search-and-rescue operations in the affected areas, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) spokesperson Shanti Mahat said.

Rasuwa: A Nepal army official carries a baby rescued during a search and rescue operation after the devastating flash floods, in Rasuwa, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)(PTI09_01_2026_000037B)

A Nepal army official carries a baby rescued during a search and rescue operation after the devastating flash floods, in Rasuwa, Nepal, on September 1, 2026

Olympic tennis champion Zheng Qinwen has donated one million yuan ($150,000) to relief efforts following the deadly flash floods, a charity said.

The 23-year-old is one of China’s biggest sports stars and gave a similar amount of money after an earthquake in Tibet in 2025.

People walk by buildings damaged and covered in mud in Betrawati Bazaar in Rasuwa district, Nepal

In Trishuli, a teacher is being credited with saving around 1,600 students as the disaster struck

A devastating glacier collapse triggered floods and mudslides across parts of Nepal and China, leaving hundreds dead and thousands missing. In Trishuli, a teacher is being credited with saving around 1,600 students as the disaster struck.

The Himalaya are one living rock, silently, broodingly, tense with seismic voltages, glacial stirrings and geological turbulence

Body number 1003 at a state-run hospital in Nepal’s Pokhara was claimed by three families, each believing they had found a missing relative after the devastating floods.

The families of Gopal Dahit, a hydropower worker from Bardiya, and Damodar Basyal, a tourist guide from Rupandehi, were among its latest claimants. Another family had initially claimed it on Sunday. Dahit and Basyal were still disputing the identity of the body, Nepal News reported on Monday. The third family seemed to have stepped back.

The case reflects the difficulties facing families and authorities as bodies recovered far downstream are brought to hospitals, where photographs, physical features and personal belongings are often being used to establish identities.

The August 26 flood left hundreds dead. Body number 1003 lying in the Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences is one of them. It now has to undergo DNA testing.

Three out of the six people from a village in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, who were missing after the flash flood, have returned, while the remaining persons are still missing, officials said.

Kaptanganj station officer Dhirendra Rai said these individuals from Sudhiyani village had gone to work at a 216-megawatt hydroelectric project in the Trishuli region of Nepal’s Rasuwa district, which has been severely affected by the disaster.

Three workers returned to their village on Monday, while three others remain missing, he said.

A resident searches for belongings in his damaged house after flash flooding in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district, Nepal

South Korea will ‌send a 44-member emergency relief team to Nepal ⁠to support search-and-rescue operations.

The deployment follows a ‌request by Nepal ‌for ⁠assistance with search-and-rescue operations in ⁠the disaster-hit area, the ministry said in a statement.

The team, including officials from the ‌ministry and fire agency, will leave for Nepal on a military transport aircraft on Tuesday ‌and work there for about 10 days, it said.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Railways has arranged special coaches and other necessary facilities to help them reach their destinations.

“The Railway Board is working in coordination with railway zones, district and state authorities and the Ministry of External Affairs to facilitate the safe movement and return of passengers affected by the situation in Nepal,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.

Railways coordinate with authorities to transport rescued Nepal flood victims, ensuring safe movement and improved connectivity for affected passengers.

The number of Indian nationals rescued in the wake of the devastating flash floods in Nepal stands at 158, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday, as India stepped up its relief and rescue efforts in coordination with Nepalese authorities.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal shared the update in a post on X.

“The specialised forensic team from India continued its work in Kathmandu today in coordination with counterparts from Nepal Police’s Forensic Science Laboratory. They discussed the optimisation of various protocols and documentation,” it said.

The Indian forensics team is helping augment the analysis of DNA samples for the identification of victims’ mortal remains in Nepal.

“The flood in the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa was not an ordinary flood,” Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in a social media post late on Monday.

“It was one of the region’s major disasters, triggered by an avalanche of snow and ice in the Himalayan region,” he said.

“This incident indicates that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are increasing alongside climate change,” Mr. Shah added.

“It is now time for us to strongly raise with the international community the issue of the disasters we are experiencing as a result of climate change,” he said.

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