Nepal Flood Death Toll Reaches 1,295 as India Reports 275 Nationals Still Missing, Including Mount Kailash Pilgrims

Since flash floods and a glacial landslide struck the Nepal-China border on August 26, the confirmed death toll in Nepal has climbed to at least 1,295, according to Nepalese authorities cited by Outlook India and India.com on Friday. Emergency teams have rescued more than 12,000 people since the disaster began, but roughly 5,000 remain missing across the country.

India's Ministry of External Affairs gave its own updated count at a Friday briefing. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 275 Indian nationals remain missing, while 166 have been rescued. Three more Indians, Abhijit Suresh Pawar, Dipika Abhijit Pawar and a third person, were pulled from Trishuli Bazaar since Thursday, according to an MEA update cited by Outlook India, putting the rescued total at 169 as of Friday evening. Jaiswal's figures were carried nearly word-for-word by the Times of India, The Week India and India.com, all drawing from the same briefing rather than independent reporting.

Jaiswal also said 1,907 Indian nationals have safely crossed into Nepal from China since the floods hit, and that Chinese officials report no Indian travelers remain stranded in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Who's still missing

A large share of the missing appear to be Hindu pilgrims who were traveling to Mount Kailash, a peak in Chinese-controlled Tibet considered sacred across Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Tibetan indigenous religion, according to NPR. Many pilgrims were at or near a border crossing that turned out to be one of the areas hit hardest by the floods.

NPR reported that families have turned to social media to search for loved ones, posting photos and phone numbers. Among them is Vivek Srivastav, a biotech scientist who settled in Atlanta and became a U.S. citizen five years ago. His brother-in-law, Gaurav Khare, told NPR the family has been searching for him since the floods hit. Srivastav had been traveling with a group of 10 others to Mount Kailash.

Historian Hindol Sengupta told NPR that for devout Hindus, a Kailash pilgrimage late in life is considered one of the most significant acts of faith a person can undertake. NPR noted the pilgrims likely make up a meaningful portion of both the 275 Indians and the roughly 80 American citizens still listed as missing, though exact numbers by nationality haven't been confirmed by Nepali or Indian authorities.

India's aid effort

Jaiswal said India has sent about 95 tonnes of relief material to Nepal on seven aircraft since the floods struck, along with 54 personnel: 30 tunnel rescue experts, 19 forensic specialists and a five-member medical team. He said India plans to send additional forensic kits and Bailey bridges as requested by Nepal's government.

The scale of the forensic identification effort reflects how many bodies remain unaccounted for or unidentified weeks into the disaster. Nepal's government has asked for outside forensic support specifically to help process remains through DNA testing, according to Outlook India.

Jaiswal was also asked about remarks from Nepal's foreign minister on climate change tied to the floods, which were triggered in part by a glacier collapse near Langtang Lirung peak. He said India has consistently held that climate change is a shared global challenge, and that developed countries with greater historical responsibility for emissions should lead on cuts and provide financing and technology to developing nations. That's India's stated position; it wasn't offered as an assessment of what specifically caused this disaster, and no Nepali or Chinese government body has issued a formal finding attributing the glacier collapse to a specific climate mechanism in these reports.

The unresolved question going into the weekend is how many of the 275 missing Indians, and the hundreds of other missing foreign nationals from more than 30 countries according to AP News, are alive versus among the unidentified dead still being processed by Nepali and Indian forensic teams. Jaiswal said India will keep providing assistance based on what Nepal's government requests, but gave no timeline for when the missing-persons count might be finalized.