Nepal flash floods LIVE updates: Death toll crosses 620; nearly 2,500 people evacuated so far

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A satellite image shows the remaining buildings and roads after flash floods and a mudslide, in Timure, Nepal, on August 28, 2026. Photo: Vantor/Handout via Reuters

T he number of people missing in Nepal and China surpassed 2,400 on Friday (August 28, 2026), underscoring the scale of the disaster days after a tsunami-like wall of water and debris swept away villages and killed hundreds.

Rescuers were battling through mud even as the threat of new floods loomed, with emergency teams recovering 586 bodies so far -- and some of the dead swept downstream as far away as India. The new figures came as Nepal’s disaster authority added 933 hydropower workers to a missing persons list already including trekkers and pilgrims to Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash.

The US Geological Survey said the disaster -- the deadliest for Nepal since a 2015 earthquake -- was caused by a glacial collapse that triggered a vast flow of icy debris.

There has been no update on the whereabouts of a group of 77 pilgrims from the Isha Foundation that went missing after a massive flash flood struck areas near the China-Nepal border two days ago, the group’s coordinator said.

The 77-member group, led by Isha Foundation, an organisation founded by Indian spiritual leader Jaggi Vasudev, Sadhguru, has remained out of contact.

Maa Gambhiri, a coordinator at the group, told PTI that Sadhguru wanted to visit Gyirong, the ground zero of the disaster, to help but did not get the necessary approval.

She said they had participants from 19 nationalities and they reached out to every embassy in India, China and Nepal to get all the support they could. She said they also reached out to various offices and ministries in India and Nepal to get any information and help.

A group of Maharashtra residents stranded in flood-ravaged regions of Nepal has safely returned to India and is currently en route to their home state.

Following their successful evacuation, the citizens interacted with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis via video call to share their relief and convey their appreciation for the State government’s quick action.

Meanwhile, an 11-member specialised medical and tunnel rescue team arrived in Nepal aboard the Indian Air Force’s third assistance flight, marking a critical transition in India’s disaster response from immediate supply delivery to complex, high-risk search and rescue operations.

Sharing the details in a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the relief supplies were handed over to Mahabir Pun, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation of Nepal.

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