KATHMANDU, 30th August, 2026 (WAM) -- Nepal resumed search and rescue work on Saturday after a brief weather-related suspension as authorities searched for nearly 3,000 missing people following a devastating flood that killed hundreds and tore through a region bordering Tibet.
The Himalayan nation of 30 million people called for specialist foreign assistance and its finance minister told Reuters it would need about $4 billion to $5 billion to rebuild.
Triggered by a glacier collapse, a torrent of rock, ice, mud and debris hurtled through mountain river systems on Wednesday, killing at least 669 people in Nepal and seven in China's Tibet. It swept away buildings, bridges and power stations.
Nearly 3,000 people remain missing, including about 2,426 in Nepal and 554 in Tibet's Gyirong County, among them at least 540 foreign nationals, many of them Hindu pilgrims from India.
Search and rescue operations resumed in the afternoon after being temporarily halted because of rain and fog, a police officer in hard-hit Rasuwa district said.
"Helicopters are flying and the operation resumed following some improvement in weather," he said, on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.