More than 1,000 dead from catastrophic Nepal-China floods

Rescuers comb through mud and debris as Nepal-China-floods" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="195692" data-entity-type="event">Nepal-China floods leave more than 1,000 dead 0 seconds of 38 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Nepal students survive devastating floods thanks to lunch break 00:30 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% 00:00 00:38 00:38 More Videos 00:30 Nepal students survive devastating floods thanks to lunch break 01:15 School principal led 900 students to safety during Nepal flash floods 00:36 Residents in Nepal region return to ruined homes to salvage belongings 00:57 AP Top Stories for August 29 00:52 CCTV footage show floodwaters and debris overtaking Gyirong Port 01:19 Tiny endangered frogs inhabit conservation area in middle to Cape Town 01:10 Popular Kenyan tourist area also has one of the country's highest rates of death in childbirth 01:43 UEFA prepares criminal complaint in Swiss courts against FIFA's Infantino over World Cup sell-off Close 1 of 7 | A mother mourned her 21-year-old son who died in the flash floods in Nepal and was cremated Monday. Meanwhile in south-central Nepal’s Chitwan district, authorities said they were carrying out temporary burials of unidentified bodies in trenches dug in a forested area as concerns for health risks mounts. (AP Video: Dar Yasin) More Videos 0 seconds of 44 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up School principal led 900 students to safety during Nepal flash floods 01:15 Auto1080p1080p720p540p360p270p180p 00:00 00:44 00:44 More Videos Close 2 of 7 | Rescuers were trying to find trapped workers in at least a dozen hydroelectric plant sites Monday after catastrophic flooding in Nepal and Tibet killed at least 900 people and left more than 4,700 missing. 3 of 7 | A Nepal flag lies on a muddy track near the banks of the Trishuli river in Dhading District, Nepal, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) 4 of 7 | Nepal Army soldiers carry a body of a worker recovered from the site of a hydropower project in Upper Trishuli, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Kaslai Dine) 5 of 7 | Displaced girls sit at a school converted into a temporary shelter for displaced residents in residents in Bidur, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) 6 of 7 | A resident carries an air cooler salvaged from his damaged house after flash flooding in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district, Nepal, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) 7 of 7 | A resident shows a holy book as he salvages his belongings from damaged home filled with mud and debris in Devighat, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, following the Aug. 26 flash floods. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh) By SHRISTI KAFLE and SHEIKH SAALIQ Updated 9:59 AM MESZ, September 1, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescue teams with search dogs combed through mud, rocks and debris Tuesday in Nepal and China looking for thousands of people still missing after catastrophic flooding tore through communities across the Himalayas, leaving more than 1,000 dead. Nepal’s disaster agency said Tuesday that 987 deaths had been counted there, with 3,916 people missing, including 583 foreigners. Chinese authorities, in their latest update on Sunday, reported 16 deaths and 546 people still missing, including 261 foreigners. The scale of last week’s disaster was hampering rescue efforts in both regions, with landslides, destroyed roads and widespread damage cutting off remote areas. Crews faced challenging conditions as they searched unstable terrain and piles of debris, raising fears the death toll could rise as rescuers reach isolated communities. At least 168 people were killed and more than 1,300 were missing after catastrophic and deadly torrents of floods and mud swept through several communities along the Nepal-China following a glacier collapse. Hundreds feared stuck in hydropower tunnels as flood deaths surpass 950 in Nepal and Tibet 2 MIN READ Catastrophic floods kill over 390 in Nepal and Tibet, with more than 1,400 missing 1 MIN READ Why a newly formed lake is sparking fears of more flooding along the Nepal-China border 1 MIN READ Rescuers race to reach missing hydropower workers In Nepal, rescuers were racing to reach hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside tunnels at hydropower projects damaged by the floods. About 900 workers are missing from 12 projects, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to Nepalese authorities. Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal’s army spokesperson, said teams assisted by foreign experts were working at several hydropower projects. Visuals released by the army showed rescue teams entering dark, debris-filled tunnels, wading through mud and water and climbing over rocks as they searched for signs of life. On the Chinese side, rescue crews scoured areas hit by mudslides, particularly around the Gyirong Port border crossing, which was destroyed. Some rescuers, aided by search dogs, searched gaps among rocks and debris for signs of life. Other teams used heavy machinery to reopen a major highway leading to Gyirong Port, which would facilitate the delivery of equipment, personnel and supplies to the disaster zone, according to the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper. Relief operations expand to reach stranded communities At least 11,814 people have been rescued so far, according to Nepalese authorities. Emergency crews were using helicopters and other aircraft to reach stranded communities in areas where roads and bridges have been destroyed by the flooding and landslides. Authorities on Tuesday also stepped up efforts to provide assistance to survivors in areas where roads and other transportation routes had been damaged or cut off. Bimal Sharma, a helicopter pilot who has been flying rescue and relief missions since the disaster began, said he was shocked to see the devastation in Timure, a border town close to Tibet that he has known for years. “It felt like I was flying over an entirely different landscape,” he said. Sharma said he has had little opportunity to speak with the people he rescued, but their expressions told him how deeply the disaster had affected them. “I can see the pain in their eyes. It’s heartbreaking,” he said. The disaster began with a glacial collapse high in the Himalayas The Aug. 26 disaster began with a chain of events high in the Himalayas. A glacial collapse sent large amounts of rock, ice and meltwater into valleys below, triggering powerful floods downstream. Scientists studying satellite imagery said the collapse appears to have involved the failure of bedrock beneath a glacier in the Himalayan region. The rockfall was powerful enough to register as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event. The resulting surge of water and debris entered rivers that flow through valleys in Tibet and Nepal, causing them to rise rapidly. Floodwaters swept away homes, buildings, roads and bridges and carried mud and rocks downstream. Saaliq reported from New Delhi. E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing contributed to this report. SHEIKH SAALIQ Saaliq is the South Asia correspondent for The Associated Press, based in New Delhi. He reports on India and the wider South Asia region, with a focus on politics, democracy, conflict and religion. twitter mailto