Nepal glacier disaster toll passes 1,000 as calls for climate justice grow
Nearly 4,500 people are missing after a wave of freezing water, rocks and debris from a high-altitude glacial collapse roared downstream last Wednesday, wiping out entire settlements and gouging a path of destruction through Nepal.
More than 1,000 bodies have been recovered, but the destruction of bridges and power stations, along with ongoing rain, is hampering relief efforts.
Rescue teams are digging, drilling and blasting through debris in a race against time in treacherous conditions to free around 100 hydropower workers believed trapped in multiple tunnels.
Thousands of people displaced by the flash floods are living in temporary relief camps, their homes either washed away or buried beneath silt and mud.
With mortuaries overflowing in Nepal, authorities have begun burying hundreds of unidentified bodies after DNA sampling. At least 17 bodies have also been pulled from rivers far downstream in India.
Kathmandu has appealed for international support, saying Nepal needed "more than a thousand" freezer units to store bodies.
Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah called the catastrophe "unimaginable and heartbreaking" but he also said it was time to raise the issue of climate change with the international community.
The catastrophe has also intensified calls for climate justice in Nepal, a largely rural nation of 30 million people that has contributed little to the emissions driving global warming but is increasingly suffering its consequences.
Climate justice
"We believe that this disaster should be seen as a warning signal to the risk that climate change poses to Nepal," Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said in an interview with French news agency AFP.
The disaster has devastated lives and public infrastructure, the minister said, underlining the need for long-term support to help Nepal adapt to and mitigate the growing challenges of climate change.
"We call upon the international community to take the changing climate in the Himalayas in an urgent light," he said, calling for climate justice rather than charity.
While the exact cause of the collapse remains unclear, scientists say rising global temperatures are accelerating glacier melt across the Himalayas and increasing the risk of such disasters.
Nepal's deadly glacier collapse exposes climate risks across the Himalayas
"We have to seek not just the preservation of mountains, but also seek support for adaptation and mitigation of the challenges that climate change is bringing to Nepal – and this region as well," he said.
"In the longer term, it will have even further impact downstream, in the entire South Asia, as the ice melts."
The disaster has severely strained the Nepalese government's resources, while frustration is also growing among the public, reports Emmanuel Derville, RFI's correspondent in Kathmandu.
Some Nepalis are frustrated to see ministers travelling by helicopter to affected areas while the army faces a shortage of aircraft, he reported. A woman inspects a damaged house after flash floods and a mudslide, at Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, 31 August 2026.
Search for the missing
Nepali journalist Deepak Koirala said he had returned to his home Dhading district to see what he could do to help.
"I went to the affected area. Twenty-nine of my neighbours had been on the road to Gosaikunda, a very popular pilgrimage site. They had gone there to pray. That is where they were caught in the massive flood. Since then, there has been no news of them; they have all disappeared," Koirala told RFI.
"My mission is to search for the bodies of my missing neighbours. I work with the police and the government to recover their remains," he said.
"I also take part in relief efforts in the area. We are sending supplies, food, clothing, and equipment. We are collecting whatever we can, because the damage is extensive. Around twenty bridges have been destroyed, and nearly 40 kilometres of roads have been wiped out."
Preserving the planet's glaciers is a 'matter of survival' says UN
China said its rescuers were "working round the clock" to reopen a major highway to allow for emergency supplies and workers to reach the Gyirong Port border post.
Meanwhile, Chinese Y-20 transport aircraft arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday with a second batch of emergency humanitarian aid – China's third relief mission in three days.
"It includes drones, DNA testing equipment, water purification and lighting equipment, and other supplies urgently needed by Nepal," government spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters at a news briefing.
Five Chinese DNA identification experts also arrived on the flight to assist in relief efforts.
(with AFP)