Death toll from Nepal floods and landslide surpasses 1,600, officials say

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Officials said the combined death toll from flash floods and a landslide in a Himalayan river valley has surpassed 1,600, with around 1,500 people still missing. At least 800 of those missing in the country are foreign nationals, according to police and tourism authorities, who said 826 people are listed as unaccounted for in Nepal, roughly 600 of them foreigners. China Central Television reported that 558 people were unaccounted for in Tibet's Jering county, including 260 foreigners. Nepal police said the confirmed death toll was expected to exceed 165. Police spokesperson Abhi Narayan Kafle told Reuters that search operations had resumed and more bodies were likely to be recovered. The Nepal Army has been conducting helicopter search-and-rescue missions to deliver aid to affected areas and evacuate stranded people. Officials said the disaster struck a rugged, heavily visited mountain region connecting Tibet's Lhasa with Kathmandu, the Nepali capital.