Summary

  • Rescuers in Nepal are trying to reach hundreds of workers who have been trapped in tunnels since Wednesday's massive flash flood

  • A controlled blast was carried out at a tunnel at the Trishuli site in the early hours of Monday

  • 933 hydropower workers from sites across Nepal are missing - in total, 4,247 people are unaccounted for, with at least 903 known to have died

  • The number of missing is a sharp rise from 2,502, which was announced on Sunday

  • Of those missing, 3,655 are Nepali citizens, with 592 foreigners unaccounted for

  • In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 reported missing, according to Chinese state media - while 10 people have been punished for spreading misinformation online

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  1. Funerals held across Nepal as victims laid to restpublished at 14:00 BST

    As authorities scramble to retrieve survivors and bodies from the devastating flash floods, funerals are being held across Nepal for those already recovered.

    Many victims have not been identified, but a small number have been handed back to their families.

    Here are pictures from today's funeral in Chitwan for Ayush Khadka, a 21-year-old who lost his life in the deadly disaster.

    A group of people is shown scattering flowers on a shrouded figure wrapped in orange cloth, resting on a mat on two large bamboo poles on the ground.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Relatives of Ayush Khadka farewell him during funerary rites on Monday

    A distraught crying woman is shown being comforted by others, with another woman holding her arm around her and appearing to speak into her ear.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Ayush Khadka's mother, Monac Khadka, mourns during her son's cremation ceremony

  2. Over 4,000 missing as efforts intensify to find workers trapped in hydropower tunnelspublished at 13:30 BST

    Tara Mewawalla
    Live reporter

    Four army personnel climb up a river bank with a body bag carried between themImage source, EPA/Shutterstock

    The number of people missing in Nepal rose sharply today - the sixth day of rescue operations - to 4,247, according to the country's disaster agency. At least 903 people have died.

    Nepali authorities are now trying to blast into hillsides, as efforts intensify to try and find 933 missing hydropower workers, thought to be trapped in tunnels connected to 13 hydropower projects across the country.

    The BBC spoke to Priya Kharel, who is struggling to find any information on her brother's whereabouts, but hopes he is trapped in one of the tunnels

    Further rain is forecast, with amber warnings in place over the next few days in the north of the country. Heavy rain has been making rescue operations difficult.

    On the Tibetan side of the border, emergency teams are still searching for people, while 10 have been punished by Chinese authorities accused of spreading misinformation online about the floods.

    China has rejected accusations that it is censoring footage of the impact of the landslide in Tibet, saying it is releasing information "openly, transparently and in a timely manner".

    Nepal has also ordered the removal of online flood content - get BBC Verify's analysis here.

    Military hubs have been transformed into search, rescue and relief zones, with military personnel offering support.

    The intensity of the relief operations nearly a week on underlines the scale of the challenge facing communities, our BBC Nepali reporters note.

    We'll continue to bring you the latest coverage as rescue efforts continue.

  3. Ten punished in China over accusations of spreading misinformation about floodspublished at 13:13 BST

    Laura Bicker
    China correspondent

    Chinese authorities have punished 10 people who are accused of spreading misinformation online.

    The rumours suggested the number of missing or dead was vastly more than officially reported figures, according to a statement by the cybersecurity bureau of China’s Ministry of Public Security.

    They cited the case of one individual, surnamed Qiu, had shared online that “the news reports 1,400 fatalities, but in reality 3,000 people had previously been reported missing”, while another surnamed Liu had said more than 3,000 people died in China as a result of the mudslide, the statement added.

    The report did not specify what punishment each person received.

    China has been censoring footage from the floods, fearing instability in the region, but on Monday said it is releasing information "openly, transparently and in a timely manner".

  4. Monsoon season brings amber rain warnings for parts of Nepalpublished at 13:00 BST

    Darren Bett
    Lead weather presenter

    A satellite image shows clouds over a moutainous area of Nepal.Image source, Planet Labs PBC

    In the last 24 hours the wettest weather in Nepal has been at Melamchi-Ghyang, a village northeast of Kathmandu and not far from where the floods were, where 89mm has fallen.

    Over the next few days there are amber rain warnings for north-eastern parts of the country.

    Computer models are showing up to 60mm of rain in this area by the end of Tuesday.

    Because of the terrain, rainfall amounts can vary dramatically.

    The heavy rain at this time of year is due to the southwest monsoon that pushes onto the Himalayas from India.

    The rains normally continue through the whole of September and only withdraw during the first week of October.

  5. Nepal installing CCTV cameras and seismometer to monitor potential future floodspublished at 12:44 BST

    Navin Singh Khadka
    Global environment correspondent

    An aerial view shows a river bed scoured out across a wide area, with mud and debris.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A satellite image shows the Trishuli river after flash floods and a mudslide last week

    Nepal has begun installation of CCTV cameras and a seismometer in the Rasuwa district to monitor and issue early warning in case of fresh floods, say officials with the country's department of hydrology and meteorology.

    They say six flood sensors in the affected region were swept away during the devastating debris floods last Wednesday.

    The sensors helped officials know changes in the flow of the rivers in the region, and issue flood alerts through phone SMS.

    With no equipment left now, and installing new sensors taking time, there is a dangerous gap in obtaining timely flood information, the officials say.

    They add that the two CCTV cameras being installed will help them see in real time if any flood is coming down from the mountains upstream.

    The seismometer they are installing will also help them know if there has been a major landslide or ice-rock avalanche, like the one on 26 August, as such events cause the ground to shake.

    Chinese media have been reporting on new potential hazards in and around the glacial-collapse site that caused the floods.

  6. 'No entry' signs in flood-damaged townpublished at 12:22 BST

    Ashok Dahal and Kamal Pariyar
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Dhunge Bazaar in Nuwakot

    A sign reading 'no entry' in English and Nepali is displayed on a large bank of mud that envelops several buildlings in a valley.

    We have arrived at Dhunge Bazaar, near the Trishuli River, which was inundated and almost swept away by the flood on Wednesday.

    We can see "No Entry" boards along some roads towards people’s houses, offices and buildings that authorities have put up to prevent people entering the properties.

    Elsewhere, some people have started to take out their goods and belongings from their flood-hit houses.

    Queue of people retrieving goods from damaged homes
  7. Foreign rescue teams helping with tunnel operationspublished at 12:07 BST

    Sanjaya Dhakal
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Kathmandu

    A man in an orange uniform and helmet is shown walking past, holding a large metal stick in his right hand. He is wearing a khaki backpack and has a walkie-talkie on his left shoulder.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A Chinese tunnel rescue expert arrives at an army training centre in Nepal on Monday

    Many of the search and rescue operators are concentrated on locating and rescuing people who might have been trapped in tunnels and outer areas of the hydropower projects.

    A number of army personnel have gone into the tunnel of the Rasuwagadhi hydropower project, but they couldn't find anybody there. They had used drones to explore inside the tunnel.

    But there are other hydropower projects with tunnels - including Upper Trishuli 1, Trishuli 3A, and Trishuli 3B - and scores of people are feared to be trapped inside them.

    Now, a number of rescue teams from India, China and even South Korea have arrived to help in the tunnel rescue operations.

    The government has been saying that it will need a lot of assistance in technical matters, such as rescuing in the tunnels, and also in the DNA identification of dead bodies.

  8. Woman hopes her brother is trapped inside a hydropower tunnelpublished at 11:50 BST

    Binita Dahal
    BBC Nepali Service

    Rescue workers building a structure to support efforts to save those trapped in hydropower tunnelsImage source, PMO

    Priya Kharel hopes her brother is trapped in a tunnel at one of the 13 hydropower projects across Nepal.

    Rescue workers are searching for over 900 missing hydropower staff.

    Her brother, Milan Kharel, is an engineer working at Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.

    "Those who have come back have said there are people in the tunnel. So I hope he can be rescued if the army finds them soon," she said.

    But, she has not been able to get information on her brother's condition anywhere. "We tried to go through the list of the missing and the rescued and the dead and there was no name anywhere," she said.

    The Nepali government has continued its efforts to rescue people trapped in the tunnel of Trishuli 3 'A' hydropower project in Rasuwa for the past two days. At about 2am today, a controlled blast was carried out at the site in an attempt to open up access - more here.

    Nepal's disaster agency says 191 survivors were rescued from tunnels at hydropower projects on Friday, and a further 88 were rescued on Saturday.

  9. Nepal tries to blast through hydropower tunnels, in bid to rescue missing workerspublished at 11:29 BST

    Nepali authorities are blasting into hillsides to try and reach hundreds of workers feared missing in hydropower tunnels.

    Many of the 933 are believed to be inside the Trishuli-3A hydropower site in Rasuwa district - with fears that a critical window may be closing to rescue any underground survivors.

    At about 2am on Monday, a controlled blast was carried out at the hydropower site in an attempt to open up access.

    It follows an update from the prime minister's office on Sunday saying that rescue efforts were being "intensified" at the hydropower site, including "blasting operations".

    Two excavators have been used to dig a hole about 10 metres deep, and the Nepali army says that work is under way to clear water, mud and debris inside the Trishuli 3A tunnel.

    Nepal's disaster agency says 191 survivors were rescued from tunnels on Friday, and a further 88 were rescued on Saturday.

    Two men in orange hi-viz vests and hard hats are shown at the bottom of a large trench dug into the ground that is around six metres deep.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Workers take part in a rescue operation near the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Sunday

  10. What is glacial collapse?published at 10:52 BST

    A five-step illustration explains a glacier collapse and its impacts. First, a section of glacier breaks off high on a mountain at 5,200m. Second, the falling ice drops 1,200m, gathering rocks and debris. Third, the debris blocks a river and dams water behind it. Fourth, the dam fails, releasing a large flood downstream. Fifth, narrow valleys funnel the floodwaters towards settlements and villages along the river.

    The disaster was caused by a "glacial collapse", which is when a glacier or part of a glacier disintegrates, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

    The collapsed glacier hit the bottom of a valley so powerfully that it registered a tremor with a magnitude of 5.2, according to the agency.

    This caused "subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream" - powerful floodwaters and debris travelled some 62 miles (100km) downstream from the Trishuli and Bhote Koshi Rivers, the USGS said, careering through towns popular with mountaineering tourists and pilgrims in northern Nepal.

  11. 'We lost everything,' says Nepali headteacher who saved 900 pupils from floodspublished at 10:34 BST

    A man in a light blue shirt speaking to reporters with curtains hanging behind him

    The headteacher of a Nepali school destroyed by floods says he has "lost everything", but is proud to have saved the lives of around 900 students.

    We heard yesterday from Rajendra Dawadi, who leads Tribhuvan Trishuli Secondary School in Nuwakot, who evacuated his pupils after receiving four warnings from different people within minutes.

    Today, he tells BBC Newsday that once they reached higher ground, "within two, five minutes... I looked back to the school. At that time, the school is totally swept away, swallowed, nothing is left".

    Dawadi says the students and staff were evacuated by helicopter three to four days later.

    "We saved the people's lives that we feel proud on that moment. But we lost everything. We lost our colleagues. We lost our school building."

  12. Nepal orders the removal of online content it deems to be misinformationpublished at 09:59 BST

    As China faces censorship questions, Nepal is also ordering the removal of online flood content that it deems to be misinformation.

    Press Council Nepal - a media regulatory body set up by Nepal's government - has opened a dedicated portal where the public can report false information and graphic material related to the disaster.

    Dozens of online users have subsequently been ordered to remove inappropriate content, the Kathmandu Post reports - including AI-generated footage and clips showing bodies and injuries.

    Press Council chairman Umesh Shrestha tells the newspaper that mainstream media organisations have largely avoided sharing such material: "This is a positive takeaway."

    Media caption,

    AI-generated videos of natural disasters are becoming more common. Here's how to spot them

  13. Rescuers search for over 900 missing hydropower workerspublished at 09:36 BST

    As we reported earlier, rescue workers are hunting for 933 missing hydropower workers, among the thousands of people missing in Nepal.

    Many are believed to be trapped inside the Trishuli-3A hydropower site in Rasuwa district, as well as sites in Chilime.

    Rescuers managed to create a hole wide enough to enter and begin the search for survivors at Trishuli-3A yesterday, though the office of Prime Minister Balendra Shah said that the team working into the tunnel called out but did not receive a response from inside.

    International tunnel rescue teams, including from India and China, are aiding Nepali police, army personnel and search and rescue workers.

    However, some delays with the rescue operations have frustrated the loved ones of those missing - read more in our earlier post here.

    A rescuer works at the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant in NepalImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A rescuer works at the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant in Nepal

  14. China rejects 'malicious smear' over flood censorship questionspublished at 09:11 BST

    China says it is releasing information "openly, transparently and in a timely manner" as it faces questions over transparency in the wake of the deadly flash flooding.

    On Saturday, the BBC reported that dramatic footage of a torrent of water tearing through Gyirong Port - one of the main border crossings between Nepal and Tibet - was being censored in China.

    Just a single still-frame show has been broadcast so far by the country's state-run flagship news bulletin.

    In response to questions about the censorship at a news briefing on Monday, foreign affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun says disaster relief efforts are being carried out "in an urgent but orderly manner".

    "Attempts to use the disaster to maliciously smear China or sensationalise the situation will not win public support," he adds.

    Media caption,

    China censors videos showing deadly flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border

  15. Reserve helicopters for emergencies, asks Nepal's disaster agencypublished at 08:48 BST

    A group of military personnel in uniform are shown standing in a field beside emergency supplies as a helicopter lands beside them.Image source, Reuters

    Nepal's disaster agency is requesting that helicopters only be used for search and rescue materials, amid the country's widescale rescue effort.

    "Helicopters should be used only for transportation of urgent search, rescue and relief materials," the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority writes in an update on social media.

    Large parts of the affected disaster zone have only been reachable by helicopter, with access roads wiped out by the flash floods.

    However, the agency says that "alternative roadways" are now opening up and should be used where possible.

  16. This village was thriving before the flood - now barren land surrounds a lone buildingpublished at 08:21 BST

    Azadeh Moshiri
    Reporting from Nepal

    A picture from the top of a mountain valley where we can see the Bhote River covered in mud from flash floods

    I’m standing next to a group of villagers in Sanu Bharkhu, staring over the Bhote Koshi river, which flows from Tibet to Nepal. The roads to this area have only recently been cleared, and it’s the first chance we’ve had to witness first-hand the devastation.

    The sight beneath us is shocking to the people here. A lone building is surrounded by barren land. Yet they tell me that was a thriving village before the flood.

    A small entrance to the Chilime Hydropower tunnel can also be seen. Eight of their workers are unaccounted for and they believe six are still trapped inside the tunnel.

    One man whose home looks over the river tells me his parents live in Kathmandu and are safe, but that several of his family members are missing. He doesn’t believe they’ve survived.

  17. The chances of reaching anybody else alive in Tibet are getting smallerpublished at 08:02 BST

    Stephen McDonell
    China correspondent

    On the Tibetan side of the border, we're in day six of this emergency.

    Rescue teams haven't found any survivors since the end of last week so the chances of reaching anybody else alive are getting smaller and smaller.

    And yet the teams are still trying.

    We're seeing footage of emergency teams using ropes, repelling down the sides of collapsed mountains, crawling through mud, calling out people's names, even though they're not finding anyone according to officials up there.

    Police, though, say that what they are now doing is targeting social media accounts here which they deem have exaggerated the extent of the emergency, especially people who are speaking about a much higher death toll.

    And yet, with nearly 550 people listed as missing, you'd have to think that the real death toll in Tibet is much much higher than the official numbers would suggest.

  18. Aid flowing into Nuwakotpublished at 07:42 BST

    Ashok Dahal and Kamal Pariyar
    BBC Nepali, reporting from Nuwakot

    We're at a military training school in Nuwakot that has been transformed into a search and rescue and relief hub.

    On the journey here, we passed ambulances and aid trucks heading towards Nuwakot, while at the site, helicopters continue to bring in emergency supplies and medicines.

    These images show aid being unloaded and sorted for distribution, alongside a temporary medical facility where injured people are still receiving treatment.

    The fact that relief operations remain this intensive nearly a week on underlines the scale of the challenge facing communities here, and the difficult conditions responders are continuing to confront on the ground.

    Large red buckets and sacks are shown piled on the ground as men in military uniforms gather aid supplies.
    Men in army uniforms are shown giving medical attention to people on stretchers in a field hospital tent.
  19. In pictures: Army personnel organise relief while families mourn loved onespublished at 07:19 BST

    Families are mourning the deaths of their loved ones, while rescue and relief efforts for those affected by Wednesday's deadly flash floods are continuing.

    Here are some of the latest pictures:

    Men dressed in two types of camouflage gear, and some wearing hard hats and high-vis vests, carry boxes and back packs out of lorriesImage source, reuters
    Image caption,

    Armed Police Force (APF) and army personnel organise relief material at Maithili Barrack army training centre in Trishuli, Nepal

    Men in camouflage and high-vis uniforms stand with supplies near a helicopter that is in the airImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Army rangers wait to load relief materials onto a helicopter

    A woman is crying and looks like she may be close to screaming while three other women, some wearing face masks, stand around her and hold herImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Muna Khadka, mother of a 21-year-old, Aayush Khadka, who died during the flash floods, mourns near a cremation ground

  20. Total number missing in Nepal jumps to 4,247published at 06:58 BST

    Eight men in army uniforms board an inflatable red dinghy on the banks of a large muddy river.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Members of the Nepali army search for bodies in the Narayani river

    As we just reported, the number of people missing in Nepal has risen sharply as rescue efforts enter a sixth day.

    It now stands at 4,247, according to the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority - up from Sunday's figure of 2,502.

    Here's a breakdown of who's included:

    • 3,655 Nepali citizens
    • 592 foreigners

    Among those missing figures are:

    • 933 hydropower workers
    • 102 Nepali soldiers, police and customs officers

    Scores of bodies are being found each day, and Nepal's confirmed death toll has now risen to 903 people, up from 781 on Sunday.

    In Tibet, the death toll currently stands at 16, according to Chinese state media, with 546 missing.