Nepal seeks survivors two weeks after deadly floods

Two weeks after a deadly flood triggered by a glacial collapse on the China-Nepal border, Nepal's rescuers remain hopeful of discovering survivors trapped in hydropower tunnels. The catastrophic surge of water, mud, and debris on August 26 has claimed over 1,401 lives and left 5,845 people missing, according to the Kathmandu disaster authority.

The search and rescue operations in the tunnels at Trishuli 3A, 3B, and Chilime hydropower projects are still underway, as reported by Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet to AFP. So far, 1,358 bodies have been recovered, and 5,326 individuals remain unaccounted for. The disaster has also taken 43 lives in China, with 519 people still missing, as per state media.

Among the missing are numerous foreigners and hydropower workers. While rescuers managed to pull three individuals from the tunnels -- two Nepalis on Friday and a Chinese man on Saturday -- there has been no official confirmation of additional survivors since then. The exact cause of the glacial collapse remains uncertain, but climate change is exacerbating glacial melt globally, heightening the risk of such disasters.

Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million people, has contributed little to the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming. The reconstruction costs could run into billions of dollars.