World · Nepal glacial collapseNepal Flood Toll Reaches 919 as 4,793 Remain MissingAired August 31, 2026 at 6:15 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Nepal's glacial collapse has killed 919 people.0:04Nearly 4,800 remain missing, and the count is still climbing under monsoon rain that0:09is grinding the search to a halt in valleys cut off by the flood.0:13The question now is what is left inside the hydropowered tunnels and whether the0:17monsoon wins the race before rescuers can reach them.0:19903 of the dead are in Nepal, 16 on the Tibetan side.0:23The missing number is far larger, 4,793, with 4,247 in0:29Nepal alone.0:30Foreign nationals account for 592 of the Nepalese missing.0:34A week ago the United Nations put the toll at 359 dead and 910 missing.0:39Within a day, at least 538 were dead.0:42By the weekend, 616 were dead in Nepal alone.0:45And Monday's official count more than doubled it.0:47919 dead, nearly 4,800 missing.0:50The trigger was not an earthquake.0:53Seismic stations recorded a magnitude 5.2 event that was first read as a quake and0:58later reclassified as a landslide.1:00Satellite imagery and glaciologists show a glacier ruptured and fell roughly 1,3001:05meters, about 5,000 meters down to 3,700, while the bedrock beneath and beside it1:11collapsed at the same moment.1:12That sent crushed ice, flood water, rock, and sediment down valley.1:17The debris flow dammed the river, the dam burst, and a wall of water, mud, and rock1:21tore through the Botekoshi and Trishuli systems at up to 145 kilometers an hour.1:26Water rose about 9 meters in 30 minutes, and Nepali authorities say the river rose1:3115 meters in an event they call once in hundreds of years.1:34Nepal carries the overwhelming weight of the toll, 903 dead and 4,247 missing.1:40On the Tibetan side of the border, 16 are confirmed dead and 546 missing.1:45At the center of the rescue is a web of hydropower tunnels.1:48Nepal's disaster authority lists 933 workers as missing or unaccounted for across1:53Upper Trishuli 1, Trishuli 3A and 3B, Rasawagadi and Langtang.1:58About 279 have been rescued or walked out.2:00Government and Army assessments hold that more than 100 may still be alive inside,2:05roughly 42 at Trishuli 3A and 122 at 3B, with hundreds more unaccounted for2:11at Upper Trishuli 1 rescue teams.2:14Are using thermal cameras and sound detectors, and rescuers have been credited with2:17pulling 350 people from a tunnel.2:20That figure is not reconciled with the 279 rescues at the hydro sites.2:24When teams opened the crown at Trishuli 3A and lowered members in by rope, the2:28silence never broke.2:30No confirmed contact has been made with any living worker there.2:33The finance minister has put a preliminary price on the disaster at $4 to $52:37billion,2:38roughly a tenth of Nepal's economy and below the $9 billion cost of the 20152:43earthquake.2:44He says Nepal would need a different kind of fundraising campaign and would consult2:48the IMF.2:49The missing includes an international toll.2:51The State Department says about 85 Americans are unaccounted for as of August 30th,2:56down from roughly 90, with nine rescued and no confirmed American deaths.3:00Among them is a 22-person Tennessee pilgrimage group.3:03China separately lists 18 Americans among foreigners missing in Tibet.3:06And the full foreign figure includes at least 33 British nationals, more than 1003:11Indian pilgrims bound for Mount Kailash, and 30 Canadians.3:15Nearly 80 Isha Foundation members and volunteers from 19 countries were reported3:19unreachable.3:20Though the foundation says more than a thousand were on the trek, 495 had returned3:24and 743 were safe in Tibet.3:27Access remains the central constraint.3:29Roughly 40 kilometers of road have been destroyed or left impassable in Rasuwa3:33District, and bridges at Timire, Sayafrubezi, Betrawadi, and Trishuli Bazar were3:37washed away.3:38Helicopters are airlifting people out, but much of the worst hit north remains cut3:42off, and monsoon rain keeps returning.3:44In Dunga Village, described as the epicenter of the destruction, one villager3:48estimated that 75 to 80 percent of homes were destroyed and said two family members3:52were buried, with floodwater, debris, and soil covering almost the ground floor.3:56In Sunir, 52-year-old cattle farmer Hadeem Tamang lost his mortgaged home and family4:00land Leaving four children in makeshift shelter while he keeps caring for 164:04buffaloes.4:05Renewed river rises and forecasts of heavy rain are creating further flood risk.4:10But fear of theft and loss of livelihood is leading some residents to resist4:14evacuation warnings.4:15UNICEF estimates that tens of thousands of young people are affected, with at least4:1970 schools closed along riverbanks, and warns of heightened risk of disease,4:23malnutrition, and protection violations.4:25On the response, Nepal has asked foreign governments for technical help, including4:29tunnel rescues, DNA testing, and transport, but has explicitly declined foreign4:34search and rescue teams, saying its own security forces, more than 30,000 personnel,4:38can manage it.4:39Aid committed so far includes $500,000 from the United States focused on Rasuwa4:44district, £1 million from South Korea, £5 million from the United Kingdom, about 504:49tons of assistance from India, 2 million from the United Nations Emergency Fund, and4:54roughly 800 Chinese emergency workers on the Tibetan side.4:57Six days in, the count stands at 919 dead and 4,793 missing.5:02The most consequential question remains what is left inside the tunnels where more5:05than 100 workers are still believed alive.5:07A race between the monsoon and the remaining pockets of air that will determine5:10whether the disaster's worst numbers have already been counted or are still to come.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗