Death toll nears 600 as missing soar over 2,400 in Nepal, China floods

NUWAKOT, Nepal - The death toll in Nepal and China from a recent devastating flood has reached nearly 600, while the number of people missing has soared over 2,400, according to the latest figures. These staggering numbers underline the immense scale of the disaster that struck the region following a tsunami-like wave of water and debris.

Rescuers are grappling with the aftermath, as they work through thick mud in the wake of the catastrophe. Despite the ongoing danger, emergency teams have recovered 584 bodies thus far, and some of the deceased have been carried downstream as far as India. These grim updates came as Nepal's disaster authority added 933 hydropower workers to the list of those reported missing, joining trekkers and pilgrims to Tibet's revered Mount Kailash.

In Nepal's capital, hospitals have become crowded with relatives desperately searching for their loved ones, as posters adorn hospital walls displaying the photos and names of the missing, according to AFP journalists. On this third day since the disaster, many families are still in a state of uncertainty, hoping their loved ones are safe.

Samjhana Thing, a 27-year-old woman, expressed her anguish, stating, "Today is the third day and we don't know anything. Hopefully he (my brother) is in a safe place. We lost everything, he is our everything." The United States Geological Survey attributes the disaster, which is the deadliest for Nepal since the 2015 earthquake, to a glacial collapse that set off a massive flood.