Nepal says $4.7B required for reconstruction after flash floods kill 1,385, while 5,130 remain missing - Anadolu Ajansı

Nepal said Friday that $4.78 billion is needed to rebuild the region hit by devastating flash floods and mudslides more than two weeks ago along the Nepal-China border, which killed 1,385 people, while 5,130 remain missing.

According to a regular news conference held by Nepal’s Foreign Ministry, the total damage caused by the disaster was estimated at approximately $1.8 billion, while estimated losses stood at about $883 million.

The total estimated reconstruction requirement was put at approximately $4.78 billion.

Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority earlier said the number of confirmed deaths in the country had risen to 1,385, while 5,130 people remained missing, including 587 foreigners.

The bodies were temporarily buried after the necessary forensic procedures to identify them and hand them over to their families for final rites.

A total of 13,676 people have been rescued so far, including more than 320 foreign nationals.

The ministry said that despite equipment received from international partners, additional equipment and supplies are still needed given the scale and complexity of the disaster and the ongoing search, rescue and relief operations, including high-capacity drones, LiDAR systems, Bailey bridges, epidemic-prevention supplies, DNA testing kits, underwater drones and high-capacity surge pumps.

On the Chinese side, the death toll remains at 43, with 519 people missing, including 261 foreigners, in the southwestern Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet.

The disaster struck on Aug. 26 when a glacier on Nepal's Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet).

The fracture triggered an ice-rock avalanche that developed into a massive debris flow and swept through valleys along the border.

Floodwaters and mudslides devastated Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts, as well as the Kathmandu Valley.

The disaster also buried the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang.