© Greg Baker/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Scientists say better early-warning system could have saved lives, as rescue efforts for the 4,500 still missing continue
Nepal last week turned down foreign involvement in general search and rescue but said it needed specialised services and advanced technological support in areas such as life-detecting machines, large refrigerators and pre-fabricated bridges.
Aid worth more than $42m has poured into the country and Nepal is now working with experts from other countries to help with rescue operations.
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© Composite: Handout / 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP via Getty Images
© Composite: Handout / 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP via Getty Images
© Composite: Handout / 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP via Getty Images
Workers thought to be stuck in underground areas at 11 sites after last week’s devastating flash floods
Rescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 12 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, the country’s disaster management authority has said.
The death toll from the unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 939 people, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border.
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© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
Rights group claims 300 homes were destroyed in Tibet and number of missing people is ‘far higher’ than Beijing admits
A Tibetan advocacy group says hundreds of homes were destroyed on the Tibetan side of the border in last week’s deadly floods, raising questions about Beijing’s official account of the scale of the disaster.
Public discussion about the flash floods has been restricted, with security officials in Tibet announcing on Sunday that it had penalised at least 10 people for sharing “false disaster information”. There was no further information on the nature of the penalties.
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© Photograph: Jigme Dorje/Xinhua/AP
© Photograph: Jigme Dorje/Xinhua/AP
© Photograph: Jigme Dorje/Xinhua/AP
© Cnsphoto, via Reuters
Workers thought to be stuck in underground areas at 11 sites after last week’s devastating flash floods
Rescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 12 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, the country’s disaster management authority has said.
The death toll from the unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 939 people, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border.
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© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prime Minister Secretariat, Nepal/AFP/Getty Images
Richer countries might have more resources to deal with catastrophe, but this problem grips the entire planet, however much leaders may want to deny it
Climate breakdown is happening on one Earth, but two different worlds. In one, its impacts increasingly encroach on everyday life; longer periods of discomfort and shorter periods of sharp pain. Endless, hotter summers, and within them sudden wildfires, evacuations, homes burned to cinders in a matter of hours. In another, catastrophe. This summer has been a snapshot of that split-screen. The hottest day on record in parts of Europe, and a wave of water, mud and ice in Nepal that so far has claimed more than 750 lives. Thousands of people are still missing.
The difference is also one of resources. The climate crisis has an economic cost, but some places can absorb it better than others. Responses to this summer of wildfires in Europe included a rapid scrambling by the French government to provide everything from tax breaks for businesses affected by the fires to relocation costs and aid to rebuild homes. The UK government had deployed almost £100m before the summer to strengthen wildfire resilience.
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© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Prabin Ranabhat/AFP/Getty Images
In today’s newsletter: As rescuers search for survivors after catastrophic floods, the disaster offers a stark warning about the climate risks facing the region, and the world
Good morning. Over the weekend, rescue workers in Nepal and Tibet raced to find people who are still trapped in villages affected by catastrophic flash floods. As of this morning, the death toll stands at 903, and more than 4,000 people are missing.
For those of you reading this in a place where life continues as usual, the scale of devastation is hard to fathom. In a matter of minutes, a torrent of mud and debris engulfed entire villages, snapped bridges and swept away people’s homes and families. Some survivors are marooned on top of buildings that rescue workers can’t reach. Others are trapped in tunnels beneath the ground. Many have no idea if their loved ones are still alive.
UK politics | PC Andrew Harper’s killers will remain in prison after Andy Burnham announced changes to the early release scheme that will see anyone convicted of unlawful killing, including all forms of manslaughter, excluded from the scheme.
Milo Yiannopoulos | Far-right British media provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported from the US back to the UK by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in connection with what the agency said was expired authorisation to be in the country.
US-Iran | Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on airbases in Jordan after the United States attacked Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the strait of Hormuz, the first such strikes in a month.
Iceland | In a blow to Brussels, Iceland has held a referendum that has narrowly rejected the government’s proposal to hold accession talks with the EU.
Nepal-Tibet disaster | A headteacher in Nepal evacuated 900 children from a school moments before a deadly wall of water struck their town amid the devastating flash floods that have killed almost 800 people and left thousands missing.
Tuesday | Justice secretary Alex Norris is due to present the government’s revised plans for the prisoner early release scheme, which includes a headroom review aimed at freeing up more space in the system.
Thursday | In the first UK visit by an EU leader of Andy Burnham’s tenure, the prime minister is will host talks with French president Emmanuel Macron.
Saturday | Officials from Jamaica will visit the UK to lodge a petition with King Charles to seek legal guidance from the privy council on the country’s request for reparations over Britain’s involvement in the slave trade, on the anniversary of the 1781 Zong slave ship departure from West Africa.
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© Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP
© Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP
© Photograph: Niranjan Shrestha/AP
© Atul Loke for The New York Times
Total number of missing Britons between Tibet and Nepal at 48 as Beijing mobilises more than 2,100 rescue workers
Fifteen British nationals are reported to be missing in China as the search continues for survivors of the devastating flooding in Nepal and Tibet.
Nepali and Chinese authorities confirmed an updated death toll of at least 810 on Sunday. More than 3,000 people are believed missing after flash floods triggered by a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas on Wednesday engulfed Gyirong port on the Nepal-China border.
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© Photograph: China Daily/Reuters
© Photograph: China Daily/Reuters
© Photograph: China Daily/Reuters
© Illustration: Nicola Jennings/The Guardian
© Illustration: Nicola Jennings/The Guardian
© Illustration: Nicola Jennings/The Guardian
Total of 804 confirmed dead and more than 3,000 missing amid threat of fresh inundation
Rescuers in Nepal and Tibet have battled through leg-sucking mud amid the threat of fresh flooding to search for thousands of people still missing after a deadly wall of water swept through the Himalayan border zone, engulfing entire villages.
The latest updates on Sunday put the number of missing at 3,048, including hundreds of foreigners. There was a total of 804 confirmed deaths across Nepal and Tibet, and reports of some bodies swept downstream possibly as far as India.
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© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
© Atul Loke for The New York Times
© Atul Loke for The New York Times
Total of confirmed 797 dead and more than 3,000 missing amid threat of fresh inundation
Rescuers in Nepal and Tibet have battled through leg-sucking mud amid the threat of fresh flooding to search for thousands of people still missing after a deadly wall of water swept through the Himalayan border zone, engulfing entire villages.
The latest updates on Sunday put the number of missing at 3,048, including hundreds of foreigners. There was a total of 797 confirmed deaths across Nepal and Tibet, and reports of some bodies swept downstream possibly as far as India.
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© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
© Photograph: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Tulshi Patel says mother Hemangini Jitendra Patel and aunt Hema Sunil Amin were last seen at Friendship Bridge on Nepal-China border
• Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates
The daughter of a woman missing in Nepal has told how she traced her mother’s location through a TikTok video posted hours before the devastating flash flood hit.
The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 675 people, while more than 3,000 remain missing.
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© Photograph: Armand Terruli/Guardian Community
© Photograph: Armand Terruli/Guardian Community
© Photograph: Armand Terruli/Guardian Community
Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones
Posters of missing people line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peeking out from behind a door.
These faces are just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed through the Himalayas and wiped away entire villages. By Saturday morning, the toll of the missing had risen to almost 3,000, in both Nepal and Tibet.
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© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
Family members pin photos of Nepal’s missing to hospital wall as people try not to give up hope on loved ones
Posters of missing people line the wall of the hospital, the glue still fresh beneath. A schoolgirl smiling in her uniform; a beaming, chubby-cheeked baby; a couple smiling on their wedding day; a young man, hands on hips, atop a mountain peak; a young girl with flowing hair, peaking out from behind a door.
These faces are just a fraction of the thousands who have not been seen since deadly flash floods coursed through the Himalayas and wiped away entire villages. By Saturday morning, the toll of the missing had risen to almost 3,000, in both Nepal and Tibet.
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© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
© Photograph: Ahmer Khan/The Guardian
Nepal requests foreign help in identification and storing of bodies, DNA testing and rescuing people from tunnels
Poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue operations in Nepal on Saturday as the search for thousands of missing people in areas devastated by catastrophic flash floods along the border with China continued.
The combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 691 dead and more than 3,000 people missing after China’s latest update on Sunday. Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing, while Nepal’s disaster agency said late Saturday that the death toll had climbed to 675 with 2,498 people missing.
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© Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
© Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
© Photograph: China News Service/Getty Images
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