Rescue operations for the border flooding between China and Nepal continued on Saturday (August 29). Nearly 2500 people are missing in Nepal, including around 900 hydropower project workers.
According to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN), 898 Nepali employees working on hydropower projects are still missing in the flood.
The sudden flood destroyed dozens of hydropower projects near the China-Nepal border, many of which are located in remote and hard-to-reach valleys. Many workers are still trapped in construction sites and tunnels. Rescue teams are searching for the missing workers under extremely harsh conditions. Current data shows that 361 workers have been rescued.
The flood has dealt a heavy blow to Nepal’s growing electricity industry. At least 12 hydropower projects have come to a halt due to the disaster, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority. Additionally, 15 ongoing hydropower projects have been affected.
These losses may exacerbate the challenges facing Nepal’s hydropower industry, particularly as authorities juggle rescue operations and loss assessments simultaneously.
Nepal issued an updated statement on Saturday, stating that the death toll from the flood has risen to 675, with 2498 people still missing. As crucial rescue work continues, the death toll is expected to rise further.
According to BBC reports, Nepali authorities are facing the challenge of how to deal with a large number of bodies. Some areas have begun burying the bodies of the deceased.
A spokesperson for the Nepali Ministry of Health stated that due to the risk of decay and infection, multiple bodies must be buried together to ensure respectful, safe, and legal handling. However, individual bodies are not buried in the same grave but separately, with identification information attached.
Officials noted that many bodies are difficult to identify, but DNA samples will be collected, physical features recorded, and all records, including burial locations, preserved.
Meanwhile, Nepali Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal stated that they have requested foreign assistance to provide refrigeration equipment to preserve the bodies of flood victims.
He mentioned that hundreds of bodies have been found downstream, having been soaked in water for a long time, posing a risk of rapid decay. The facilities in Nepal for long-term freezing of bodies are “very limited.”