Nepal Flood Missing Rises to 823... Death Toll Also Jumps to 270

Of the total missing, 517 are foreigners
More than 200 are Nepalese nationals
Glacier and rock collapse linked to climate change

The number of people missing due to the massive flood in the Himalayan mountain region of Nepal has risen to around 820.

On the 26th, a massive flood occurred in the Himalayan mountain region of central-northern Nepal, causing contact to be lost with nine Korean workers who were constructing a hydropower plant on site. The company dispatched response personnel to the area on the 27th. The photo shows the Nepali Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydropower plant construction site, introduced in Doosan Enerbility's promotional video in 2023. Doosan Enerbility is carrying out the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) work for the power plant. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to reports from local Nepalese media outlet Online Khabar and AFP, Nepalese disaster authorities announced on the 27th that 823 people have been reported missing due to the large-scale flood that occurred the previous day in the northern Bagmati Province.

The number of missing persons, which had been counted at 484 the previous day, increased by more than 300 in just one day as more reports were filed. Of the total missing, 517 are foreigners, while more than 200 are Nepalese nationals.

The missing foreigners are reportedly from more than 30 countries, including India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Italy, and Ukraine. Nine Korean nationals affiliated with Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility, who were constructing a hydropower plant in the area, are also out of contact.

Of the additional ten Korean employees from Doosan Enerbility known to be stranded locally, nine were relocated to a safe area on this day.

The remaining one—Doosan Enerbility’s site manager—stayed behind at the site, accompanied by two staff members from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal, including the consul and an administrative employee.

A joint rapid response team formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Korea, the National Police Agency, and the National Fire Agency departed from Incheon International Airport for Kathmandu, Nepal, on this day. The death toll, which stood at 157 as of the previous day, also surged to 270 as search and rescue operations continued.

Avi Narayan Kafle, spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said, “We have resumed search efforts and expect more bodies to be recovered,” adding that “the death toll is expected to further increase.”

The National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority of Nepal reported that 80 bridges and 40 kilometers of roads have been damaged, and 83 security personnel—including local police officers and soldiers—are missing.

This flood is suspected to have resulted from a massive collapse of glaciers and rocks in the Himalayas, possibly caused by climate change driven by global warming.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.