Death toll climbs to 1,453 from devastating floods, mudslides at Nepal-China border, with 6,664 missing

In this photo taken with a smartphone, people look at photographs of hundreds of people missing since last month’s floods, posted on a wall by relatives hoping to receive information about them at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, Sept 17, 2026. - Photo: AP

KATHMANDU: (Bernama-Anadolu) The death toll from last month’s devastating flash floods and mudslides along the Nepal-China border rose to 1,453 on Thursday (Sept 17), with 6,664 missing on both sides, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing authorities.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 1,410 people have died, with 13,756 rescued in Nepal. A total of 6,145 are missing, 587 of them foreigners.

On the Chinese side, the death toll remains at 43, with 519 missing, including 261 foreigners in Tibet, which Beijing designates as the Xizang autonomous region.

Workers unload emergency relief supplies from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) for flash flood victims at Tribhuvan International Airport's cargo area in Kathmandu on Sept 17, 2026. - Photo: AFP

The disaster struck Aug 26 when a glacier on Nepal's Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of 5,200 metres (17,060 feet).

The fracture triggered an ice-rock avalanche that turned into a massive debris flow and swept through valleys along the border.

Floodwaters and mudslides devastated the Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts in Nepal, as well as the Kathmandu Valley. It also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang. - Bernama-Anadolu