World : Nepal, Tibet Floods : Death Toll Climbs To 750, Over 3,000 Missing

The death toll from Nepal and Tibet's recent catastrophic floods reached 750 on Sunday, with 3,044 people still missing, according to authorities. Rescue operations have been halted multiple times due to severe weather and fears that a lake created by a mudslide from a glacier collapse last Wednesday could cause further flooding if it began overflowing into Nepalese rivers. The Red Cross estimates that over 90,000 individuals have been impacted by the disaster, which China attributes to climate change effects.

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Nepalese counterpart via phone on Saturday, noting the disaster as their "most severe cross-border disaster" in recent years and highlighting the unprecedented difficulty and complexity of rescue operations. Video footage shows thousands still missing as rescue efforts focus on hundreds of people potentially trapped in tunnels at hydropower plants.

In Nepal, 734 deaths have been reported, with 2,498 missing and 7,514 rescued. In China, 16 fatalities occurred in Gyirong County, with 546 people missing, according to local officials. Among the 261 foreign nationals missing on the Tibetan side are 104 from Nepal, 49 from India, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans, and 15 Britons.

Beijing and Kathmandu are collaborating to identify missing citizens and foreign nationals, while enhancing cooperation in disaster prevention, mitigation, and climate-change response. Nepal does not require foreign aid for general rescue efforts, but the country does need assistance in tunnel rescue, DNA testing, refrigerated storage, and forensic identification of decomposed remains.

Indian and Chinese experts are currently assisting in opening tunnels to aid rescue operations. A lake that had formed upstream and posed a threat to rescue efforts has largely drained, but a landslide detected late on Saturday created a new dam and a new pool of water, prompting authorities to relocate rescue personnel near the border crossing to safety.

China has deployed over 2,100 rescue workers and allocated $32.7 million to support relief efforts, providing emergency cash aid, disaster relief supplies, satellite and hydrological data, and tunnel rescue experts to Nepal. Heavy-lift drones have begun airdropping equipment and supplies near the border crossing, while soldiers continue the search for the remaining missing individuals using life-detection equipment, drones, and navigation systems.