NEPAL HAS WARNED of rising flood waters and urged rescue teams to exercise caution, as efforts to retrieve victims from areas devastated by deadly flash flooding entered a fifth day.

“We have received information that the flood flow in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa has increased further,” the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA)said in a warning issued at 7.20am (2.35am Irish time).

“Therefore, all personnel engaged in search, rescue, and relief operations, those in riverside areas, and everyone else in affected areas including Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Chitwan are requested to exercise caution.”

Meanwhile, rescuers near the Tibet border port that was hit by a deadly mudslide were “moved to a safe location” this morning, after a new lake was formed by a landslide, state media reported.

The disaster, which struck the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, was caused by a glacial collapse, sending a wall of water and debris downstream, the US Geological Survey said.

The death toll has reached 734 in Nepal, where 2,498 also remain missing.

Two Irish citizens, 46-year-old Santosh Sahu and 18-year-old Spandan Sahu, are among the missing. Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs has said it “continues to closely monitor the situation” and is providing consular assistance.

In Tibet, the official death toll is 16 while 546 are said to be missing, according to Chinese state media.

Nepali army troops and engineers were working on Sunday to rescue workers believed trapped in a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site after they successfully inserted a pipe into the passage.

They have “started sending air through the small opening”, Nepali Home Minister Sudan Gurung said in a statement.

Overnight rain and rising river waters hampered efforts this morning, filling the excavation area with water before conditions eased and teams resumed efforts, the Nepal army said.

In an area home to vast energy infrastructure projects, Nepal’s disaster authority listed 933 hydropower workers among the missing.

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday that experts had said “a glacier on the southern slope of Lirung Peak in Nepal” fractured, triggering an ice-rock avalanche.

It said the torrent plummeted rapidly, forming a massive debris flow that travelled more than 20 kilometres before crashing into Gyirong Port.

“The sudden glacial collapse and flash flood is a devastating reminder of how fragile these mountain environments can be,” UN climate chief Simon Steill said in a statement.

Humanitarian aid

The UN has released $2.5 million (€2.15 million) in emergency funding, while the US and Canada have said they will provide $3.6 million (€3.09 million) each in humanitarian aid to Nepal.

The UK has offered $6.8 million (€5.84 million), while the EU promised €2 million.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it had allocated more than $1 million (€859,000) and launched an emergency appeal for $31 million (€26.63 million).

Nepal’s economy is already under pressure, with limited resources to respond to a disaster of this scale and Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal saying the reconstruction bill could run into “billions of dollars”.

He appealed for specialised assistance, including heavy-lift drones and technology to help locate people who are trapped.

Khanal also called for forensic testing kits to identify bodies and freezer units to store them, saying bodies that have been in water could decompose at a faster rate.

The deluge of ice and mud caused huge lakes, and one of these formations has become a risk of further floods.

The Chinese and Nepali foreign ministers spoke Saturday and discussed sharing satellite and hydrological data, both sides said.

In Tibet, where Chinese authorities are the only source of information, rescue operations were temporarily paused at the hardest-hit area of Gyirong because of the risk of more flooding from a newly formed lake.

But state broadcaster CCTV said late Saturday that the lake was “discharging naturally” and had been “essentially drained”, citing China’s ministry of water resources.

A total of 2,141 rescuers were near the Gyirong site, the Xinhua state news agency reported, including the more than 500 in the worst-hit area.

With reporting from © AFP 2026