The death toll from devastating flash floods in Nepal and China’s autonomous region of Tibet has passed 1,000. A combined 1,003 people have died in the two countries so far, with 4,462 still missing.
News agency AFP reported the figures Tuesday, citing the latest data from both countries.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 987 people have died in floods in the country. China, meanwhile, has confirmed 16 deaths in Tibet. That brings the combined death toll in the two countries to 1,003.
Many people have been rescued alive in Nepal, bringing the number missing there down to 3,916. In Tibet, 546 people remain missing.
Rescue operations continued Tuesday, the seventh day since the disaster struck. A combined 4,462 people remain missing across both countries, raising fears the death toll could rise further.
Of those missing in Nepal, 583 are foreign nationals, who had traveled to the Himalayan country from 30 countries around the world.
In Tibet, 261 of the missing are foreign nationals, from 23 countries.
A flash flood struck the Bhotekoshi River in Nepal’s Rasuwa district last Wednesday. The current was so powerful that the bodies of victims were swept hundreds of miles downstream.
With insufficient freezer capacity, Nepal is struggling to preserve the bodies. DNA samples are being collected from the bodies for now, after which they are being buried in mass graves.
Once identities are confirmed through DNA testing, the bodies will later be exhumed and handed over to families.