More than 1,200 dead remain unidentified after floods in Nepal

Sthe latest nepalese police report is among the 4,898 missing at least 618 foreigners.

On the Chinese side, state media reported 31 dead and 531 missing in the Tibet region, also heavily affected by floods.

The provisional balance sheet in both countries is now 1.326 dead and 5.429 missing.

The update of the numbers in Nepal and Tibet coincided with a ray of hope from the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric power station, when the emergency teams managed to recover alive two workers who were trapped when the water, mud and debris buried the complex.

One of the men rescued, Kabir Maharjan, is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital in Katmandu due to severe hypothermia and extreme exhaustion in the limbs.

The other worker, Sanjay Sah, is stable and reported that during the period he was detained, he was able to communicate shouting to several people who were nearby.

Among the missing in Nepal are three Portuguese citizens, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon. On the Chinese side, one Portuguese is also among the missing in Tibet, on a list previously released by the Chinese authorities that included 261 citizens from 23 countries.

The identification of the deceased remains one of the greatest challenges for the Himalayas. The authorities have specified that of the 1,295 bodies recovered, including those of 121 minors, 1,263 remain unidentified.

Forensic experts have intensified the collection of DNA samples and have already accumulated 2,106 genetic profiles of the deceased and their families.

The Chinese state media never released the names of the missing persons or transmitted images showing the reactions of their families.

In contrast, in Nepal, police provide an updated daily count, sometimes several times a day, and authorities publish the names of the missing, including foreigners.

The sudden floods of August 26, described by local observers as one of the worst disasters of which there is memory in Nepal, caused the water level of the Trishuli River to rise between 15 and 18 meters above normal, destroying settlements along a 72-kilometre stretch of its shores.

They also caused significant damage to hydroelectric power plants and other infrastructure, and destroyed homes, roads and bridges in various districts.

They also destroyed the border post of Rasuwagadhi-Kerung on the border between Nepal and China, an essential route for bilateral trade, and affected dozens of settlements.

The catastrophe was triggered by the detachment of a mass of ice and rocks from the northern face of Langtang Lirung, the highest peak of the Langtang Himal mountain range, a sub-cordillera of the Nepalese Himalayas, located southwest of the Shishapangma peak, northeast of Katmandu and five kilometres south of the Tibet border.

Search and rescue operations continue in the affected areas after the recovery of telecommunications has allowed authorities to obtain information about communities that have remained isolated for several days.