Updated Aug. 28, 2026, 1:40 p.m. ET
The number of people missing after catastrophic floods swept through Nepal and part of China spiked to more than 1,900 people on Aug. 28, officials announced.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority of Nepal raised the number of those still unaccounted for to 1,924.
At the same time, the agency posted on its website, nearly 800 people had been rescued.
So far, local media have reported 579 deaths.
The announcement came after officials said dozens of Americans remained missing after flash floods struck Nepal on Aug. 26.
A massive landslide took place at about 8:30 a.m. local time in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers in the Himalayan country’s northern Rasuwa district near China’s Tibet border, the Nepal Tourism Board reported. The disaster unleashed deadly flooding, destroying homes, buildings and infrastructure and leaving scores dead.
Nearly 93,000 people are estimated to have been affected by the disaster, the Red Cross wrote in an email to USA TODAY, adding it expected the death toll to rise.
At the same time, Nepali officials said they remained hopeful they will find more survivors.
Search and rescue resumes after another flood risk
Nepal and China resumed search and rescue efforts after suspending them for several hours on Aug. 28 after the flooding led to the formation of a lake, which began overflowing into the Trishuli and Lhende Khol rivers.
“We have been sending daily shipments of relief supplies by truck since the incident, but today we were not able to reach Nuwakot due to safety concerns related to the secondary flood,” International Federation of Red Cross Head of Delegation for Nepal David Fisher, said during an Aug. 28 United Nations news conference, in Geneva, speaking from Kathmandu. “We are happy to report that we are now in telephone contact with Nepal Red Cross volunteers in Rasuwa, who have been working with the armed forces and local authorities so provide some relief, though to date we have not been able to relief items by road.”
Horrifying surveillance videos show people fleeing before a wall of water crashes down on them. Drone footage also shows flooding devastation along the river as mud and floodwaters engulf riverside communities.
Scientists don’t yet know exactly what triggered the Nepal flood, but suspect a glacier collapse and suggest that climate change also played a role.
American tourists still missing in Nepal floods
Nepal’s tourism board and the U.S. State Department confirmed several Americans had been located as of Aug. 27.
The State Department said U.S. officials and the Trump administration were aware of about 90 Americans “who may be impacted by the floods” in the region.
“We can confirm that three American citizens have been safely rescued in Nepal. We are not aware of any U.S. citizen deaths at this time,” the department said on Aug. 27, adding the administration “has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans.”
Contributing: Reuters
atalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
