Nepal Floods: Death Toll Crosses 1,000 — Thousands Still Missing

Massive Flood in Nepal: Buildings Buried in Heavy Mud

Nepal floods: The deceased crossed 1,000, 3,900 missing, the search for laborers trapped in tunnels continues

According to Nepal's disaster management agency, the death toll from the terrible flooding along the Tibetan border rrc workers are trapped in the muddy tunnels of hydropower projects along the Trishulee River. Engineers are pumping air into the tunnels, and a team managed to get into one but returned when they found no-one there.

Anushila Bhandari, the wife of 33-year-old engineer Aurus Bhandari who disappeared at the project site, told BBC Nepali: "I wish we could find them. If only they had returned home".

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said on Monday that 279 people had been rescued. The rescue operation includes Chinese and Nepali military personnel, as well as experts from India, Korea and Australia.

Sita Pandey, whose husband was working at the plant said: "I have a 50% hope that they are alive because there is an oxygen system inside.

At least 11 hydropower projects were damaged in the flood. Families say rescue is slow - the longer it takes, the less hope there is", said Jeevan Khadka.

Shah wrote in a Facebook post, "This incident shows that risks are increasing in the Himalayan region with climate change... It's time we raised this issue with the international community".

Australian engineer Arnold Dix said the tunnels were difficult to identify - "they look like the surface of the moon. He hoped that the underground environment might have protected people from flooding.

Only 4% of the 900 bodies found so far have been identified, according to the Ministry of Health. 300 bodies arrived on the banks of rivers in Chitwan district, where a temporary burial is being carried out due to lack of freezers. Families will be able to take the remains after identification with DNA testing.

In Tibet, Chinese authorities have reported 16 dead and 546 missing, while censorship of flood footage in China. Online rumors are also banned in Nepal.