Exactly one week after the floods and subsequent avalanche, on the border between Nepal and Tibet, the authorities confirm that the fatalities already amount to at least 1,204 as the work to recover bodies progresses. Meanwhile, more than 4,200 people remain missing, including foreigners from 39 countries. Amid the anguish and pain, families of local residents who remain unaccounted for participated in symbolic funerals for their loved ones.

First modification: 09/02/2026 - 16:01 Last modification: 09/02/2026 - 17:39

A tragedy whose consequences are completely unknown. The fatalities rose this Wednesday, September 2, to at least 1,204, according to official figures, after China, for its part, confirmed 21 dead people.

The destructive floods and subsequent avalanche last Wednesday, August 26, took place in the border valleys between Nepal and Tibet, an autonomous region of China, also leaving more than 4,200 people missing, 541 of them confirmed by Beijing.

Some tourists previously reported missing in Nepal have contacted authorities, local officials confirmed Wednesday, but the story for thousands of families is different.

The unlocated individuals also include multiple people from 39 countries, including the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Australia and Spain, among others.

The disaster is believed to have occurred when a collapsing glacier in the Himalayas sent rocks, ice and meltwater into the valleys below, causing heavy flooding downstream. The flood reached the rivers that run through Tibet and Nepal, causing them to rise rapidly. The waters swept away houses, buildings, roads and bridges, dragging mud and rocks downstream of the mountainous region, where thousands of people were present, including hydroelectric workers, tourists and local residents.

Read also "Today is the last day": the search for hundreds of missing people in Nepal enters a critical phase

Symbolic funerals for thousands of missing people

Some families in Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected districts in Nepal, have organized symbolic funerals for their missing relatives, hoping to free their souls after being presumed dead.

In Hindu tradition, cremation is an important final rite, and for some families, performing the ceremony even without the bodies of their loved ones provides a sense of spiritual liberation.

Mukunda Rijal declared that his cousins ​​and daughters had not been found, prompting the family to hold a symbolic funeral in their honor.

On the banks of the Trishuli River, a priest placed straw effigies representing missing relatives and covered them with small piles of firewood before setting them on fire. Symbolic funeral pyres were surrounded by offerings to Hindu deities as family members gathered to perform funeral rites.

Nepalese authorities have also been burying recovered bodies in temporary graves until they can be identified. They are preserving DNA samples, photographing distinctive facial features and recording other identifying details to help match the remains to missing people and eventually return them to their families.

Read also “We cannot believe that everything has disappeared”: Nepal searches for hundreds of people after gigantic avalanche

"Trust that there is life"

Despite the symbolic funerals organized by some families, for others there is still hope of finding life. Rescue efforts have increasingly focused on hydroelectric project tunnels, where authorities believe some workers may have survived after being cut off by flooding and debris.

Some tunnels contain air-supplied chambers, and rescuers were trying to reach about 900 missing workers.

"We are very confident that there is life in there because... there is food and water in the building, which was probably built for communications and as a resting place," Amshu Kiran Shahi, a member of the board of directors of the Nepal Electricity Authority, told Reuters.

Chances of finding survivors elsewhere were fading, officials said, but rescue operations continued as teams scoured the mountainside along the border with China, where floods swept through villages and valleys. "Hope of finding survivors is diminishing," said Phanindra Paudel, a senior official at Nepal's National Emergency Operations Centre. "We pray and remain hopeful. "Hope is hope."

Prime Minister Balendra Shah informed parliament that the search would continue. "Our priority remains clear: continue search and rescue operations, find those still missing and continue supporting all those affected," he said.

Authorities stress that major rescue operations are underway or planned at four hydroelectric projects. Two of them, where about 90 people are missing, offered the best chance of finding survivors due to the presence of air inside the tunnels, Shah explained.

At Trishuli-3A, authorities believe there was a dry chamber inside and hoped oxygen would flow through the tunnel, using pipes to push it, Shah added.

Specialized rescue teams from India, China and the United States participated in the rescue efforts in the tunnel.

With Reuters and AP

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