Live Updates: New Nepal Flood Warning Complicates Desperate Himalayan Search

Nepal Increases Flood Toll to 1,900 Missing and Over 500 Dead: Live Updates - The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site index

Log in

Friday, August 28, 2026

Today’s Paper

* Home
* + U.S.
+ International
+ Canada
+ Español
+ 中文

Floods in

Nepal and Tibet

* Updates
* What to Know
* Photos and Videos
* Scale of Destruction
* Maps
* Survivors’ Accounts

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Current time in

Nepal

11:26 p.m. Aug. 28

Live

Updated

Aug. 28, 2026, 1:29 p.m. ET

14 minutes ago

Live Updates: Nepal Roughly Doubles Number of Missing to 1,900 Amid Desperate Search for Survivors

A spokeswoman for the disaster relief agency said the tally grew after some 900 people were reported missing from hydropower projects. Rescue efforts were complicated by fears of new possible flooding.

*
*
*

1.
Atul Loke for The New York Times

2. Kathmandu, Nepal
Atul Loke for The New York Times

3. Nuwakot District, Nepal
Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press

4. Devighat, Nepal
Ezra Acayan/Getty Images

5. Devighat, Nepal
Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images

6. Trishuli, Nepal
Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

7. Trishuli, Nepal
Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

8. Trishuli, Nepal
Reuters

9. Nuwakot District, Nepal
Rajesh Kumar Singh/Associated Press

10. Trishuli, Nepal
Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

11. Trishuli, Nepal
Arun Sankar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

12. Kathmandu, Nepal
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters

See more of our coverage in your search results. Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on Google Agrega The New York Times en Google

Latest

Anupreeta DasBinod GhimireMujib MashalLily Kuo and Qasim Nauman

Here’s the latest.

Nepali officials now say at least 1,900 people are missing after the devastating flash flood in the Himalayas on Wednesday, roughly doubling their previous estimate, as rescue workers press forward with a search for survivors.

The country’s disaster relief agency said the big jump in the number of missing came after hydropower producers in the flooded river valley reported about 900 people connected with the projects were unaccounted for.

Fears of more flooding on Friday hung over the search for survivors of the deluge, as the authorities in Nepal warned that more water could rush into valleys along the Chinese border and in northern Nepal where the death toll has already climbed above 580.

Nepal’s disaster management authority urged emergency workers to move to safety immediately “if risk is observed.” In Trishuli, a Nepali police officer rode through town on a motorcycle urging people to get to higher ground, prompting dozens to seek safety inside a temple compound.

More than 30,000 Nepali security forces have been deployed for the relief mission, according to the United Nations. On Friday, Nepal Army personnel took many rescued people to barracks on the banks of the Trishuli River, where New York Times reporters saw many jostling to see if they recognized names on printed lists of survivors.

The Nepali authorities said that more than 3,700 people had been rescued so far, and released footage showing uniformed personnel pulling people by hand through a river of mud. Officials said they had been trapped in a tunnel that is part of a hydroelectric project that had been under construction.

Some 93,000 people in Nepal are in need of support, the International Federation of the Red Cross said in a preliminary assessment.

The 48 to 72 hours after natural disasters is typically a critical window for finding survivors. But the devastation left many miles of roads unusable and damaged communications infrastructure, making it harder for rescuers and aid organizations to locate people and deliver food, medicine and temporary shelters.

Crews trying to reach some of the affected areas would need to carve new roads through the muddy wasteland, said Keshav Sharma, who until recently led Nepal’s infrastructure and transport ministry.

Here’s what else we are covering:

* **Death toll:** The Chinese authorities on Friday announced that five people had died in Tibet and that 558 remained missing. One city in Nepal has received more bodies than its morgues can accommodate. Read more ›
* **Pilgrimage site**: Many of the missing were pilgrims heading to or from Mount Kailash, a Himalayan peak of snow and granite, and a spiritual site revered by followers of four religions. Read more ›
* **Fast waters:** Survivors in Nepal described high floodwaters laden with debris that shattered houses and swallowed people as they fled. Nepal’s flood warning system was ill-equipped to sufficiently alert people. Read more ›
* **Global warming:** Climate change is heating up the Himalayas and supercharging the risk of disasters like the flash flooding in Nepal and Tibet. Scientists are still determining the exact cause of the catastrophe, which was difficult to predict, experts say. Read more›

Aug. 28, 2026, 1:29 p.m. ET

14 minutes ago

Mack Liederman

About 90 Americans who were near the Nepal-Tibet border during the flood are missing, according to the U.S. State Department, which added it was currently “not aware” of any deaths of American citizens.

Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the department, told CNN it has been contacting trekking companies. Many had been offering tourists adventure trips in the Himalayas or a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, a sacred site for Hindus and Buddhists.

The U.S. is also sending $500,000 for emergency efforts in Nepal, according to the State Department. The U.S. Embassy in Nepal posted photos on Friday morning of a first shipment of aid arriving. It included food, blankets, mosquito nets and foam sheets for flooring of makeshift shelters at two schools.

Aug. 28, 2026, 11:50 a.m. ET

2 hours ago

Mujib Mashal

The head of the United Nations in Nepal, Lila Pieters Yahia, said in an interview, emergency response teams had to be “very, very, cautious” on Friday because of warnings about further flooding.As she was visiting Nuwakot, one of the badly affected districts, sirens had gone off repeatedly and people were asked to move to higher ground, she said. “People are traumatized,” she added.

Himalayas

N

Langtang

Lirung

Syapru Besi

Tsangbu Ri

A chunk of the glacier fell.

Bhotekoshi

River

GLACIER

A lake formed here after the

avalanche, creating a risk of

secondary flooding.

Gyirong border

crossing

Labi Village

NEPAL

Area of

flooding

Another lake

formed here.

Seqiong

Village

TIBET

CHINA

0.4 miles

N

Himalayas

Langtang

Lirung

Syapru Besi

A chunk of the

glacier fell.

Bhotekoshi

River

GLACIER

A lake formed here after the

avalanche, creating a risk of

secondary flooding.

Gyirong border

crossing

NEPAL

Labi Village

Area of

flooding

Another lake

formed here.

Seqiong

Village

TIBET

CHINA

0.4 miles

N

Himalayas

Syapru Besi

A chunk of the

glacier fell.

Bhotekoshi

River

GLACIER

A lake formed here after the

avalanche, creating a risk of

secondary flooding.

Gyirong border

crossing

NEPAL

Labi Village

Another lake

formed here.

Area of

flooding

TIBET

CHINA

0.4 miles

N

A chunk of the

glacier fell.

Area of

flooding

A lake formed here

after the avalanche.

NEPAL

Another lake

formed here.

TIBET

CHINA

0.4 miles

Sources: Satellite image by Copernicus and Landsat via Google.

Pablo Robles /The New York Times

Aug. 28, 2026, 11:48 a.m. ET

2 hours ago

Mujib Mashal

Lila Pieters Yahia, the top U.N. official in Nepal, said at least 10,000 households were in need of aid. Many of those families, she said, have lost their homes and are living in fear of more flooding. She said food and other supplies were being trucked and airlifted to the stricken region.

Nepal’s government has put the physical damage at over $1.3 billion in initial estimates, including destroyed roads, bridges, power lines and communications equipment, she said. “This is enormous,” Pieters Yahia said. “This is a poor country.”

Aug. 28, 2026