Damage is seen in the aftermath of flash floods in Devighat in the Nuwakot district in Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety on Aug. 28 as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floodsthat killed more than 500 people and left more than 1,500 missing.
Nepal's disaster management authority said the death toll there rose to 538, and that more than 3,700 people have been rescued. Nepali police later put the number of deaths higher at 547.
Meanwhile there was little information on survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to five on Aug. 28. China's state media previously said 558 people were missing.
Across the border, Nepal’s disaster management authority said on Aug. 28 that 977 people were still unaccounted for.
Hundreds of them were foreignersin the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.
Nepali police issued a fresh alert on Aug. 28 after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side has burst. Security personnel and rescue and relief workers were told to stay on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary.
It is unclear if the dam bursting is related to flooding concerns over a barrier lake that formed after the initial flash floods, high up in the Chinese side of the Himalayan mountains. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the lake was at an elevation of 2,950 meters (9,680 feet.)
Nepali and Chinese authorities earlier warned of further flooding from the barrier lake, which was already overflowing. They urged people in potentially affected areasto move to safer ground.
Nepal’s disaster management authority said 3,253 people had been airlifted by helicopter from the disaster area. Survivors, including injured people, were taken to Kathmandu and other locations.
Scientists who’ve studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall was so extreme that it reached
a magnitude 5.2 seismic measurement.
The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.
Nepal appealed on Aug. 28 for international financial assistance, but said it was coping without foreign rescue teams.
“It is not that we will not need help, but our security network is capable and working effectively right now,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Chhetri told AFP.
“If Nepal needs any specialised help or expertise, then we will request it,” said the official.
The International Red Cross said it estimates at least 93,000 people “have been affected and are in great need.”
David Fisher, head of delegation in Nepal for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told reporters in Geneva that some areas are still accessible only by helicopter and it hasn’t yet been possible to complete initial assessments.
UNICEF said at least 17,000 children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance while 18 schools have been completely destroyed and another 20 damaged.
