Nepal Ice-Rock Collapse Floods Kill 1,377: Country With Lowest Carbon Emissions Bears Heaviest Cost
A devastating flood was triggered by an ice-rock collapse on the Nepal-Tibet, China border on August 26. According to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, as of September 10 the death toll had risen to 1,377, with approximately 5,130 missing and 13,656 rescued. At least 43 people died on the Chinese side of Tibet. As one of the countries with the lowest per capita carbon emissions globally, Nepal is bearing the brunt of disaster risks posed by the accelerated meltin
According to a September 10 report by The Hindu, Nepal's devastating flood triggered by the border ice-rock collapse has killed at least 1,377 people, with approximately 5,130 missing and 13,656 rescued. The latest data released by Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) shows that the recovery of bodies remains concentrated in disaster-affected districts such as Chitwan, Nawalparasi, and Nuwakot.
On August 26, an ice-rock collapse occurred in a Himalayan mountain area near the Nepal-Tibet, China border, with the debris plunging into the Bhotekoshi River. The Bhotekoshi River surged southward from the border, carrying the flood downstream and sweeping through towns and villages in northern and central Nepal. The flood destroyed houses, vehicles, roads, and bridges, and damaged hydropower projects.
According to NDRRMA statistics, 364 bodies have been recovered in Chitwan district, 228 in East Nawalparasi, 222 in West Nawalparasi, and 198 in Nuwakot. Large numbers of victims' bodies have also been recovered in Rasuwa (178), Gorkha (77), Dhading (70), and Tanahun (38) districts. Two additional disaster victims in Kathmandu died while receiving treatment.
The disaster also affected the Chinese side. According to The Hindu citing Chinese media reports, at least 43 people died in the floods in Tibet, with more than 500 still missing. The cross-border impact of the ice-rock collapse stretched the geographic scope of this disaster across both sides of the Himalayas.
A joint command center composed of the Nepali Armed Forces and security forces continues to conduct search and rescue operations in the affected areas. However, the number of missing persons is an estimate, and the final death toll is expected to rise further.
Nepal is one of the countries with the lowest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Yet this landlocked South Asian country is bearing the brunt of disaster risks posed by the accelerated melting of Himalayan glaciers—glacial lake outburst floods and ice-rock collapse events are becoming increasingly frequent in the region. The houses, bridges, and more than a thousand lives swept away by the Bhotekoshi River flood expose an unavoidable structural reality in the global climate system: the country with the smallest carbon emission history is bearing the heaviest disaster costs.
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