The number of deceased from the severe floods that ravaged northern Nepal last week, in a region bordering China, has already surpassed 1,100 dead, according to the latest count from the country's authorities, who maintain that more than 3,900 people are reported missing.
The National Authority for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRMA, for its acronym in English) has detailed in a statement disseminated on social media that so far 1,114 bodies have been recovered. Among them are 348 in Chitwan, as well as 218 in Nawalparasi East and 190 in Nawalparasi West.
The agency has added that rescue teams have managed to save 11,993 people, including 273 foreigners evacuated by helicopter. In addition, it has specified that 292 people were injured as a result of the disaster, of which 182 have already been discharged after receiving medical attention.
According to the NDRRMA, more than 21,300 personnel are participating in the response efforts, including 7,900 police officers and 9,200 military personnel, deployed both in search and rescue operations and in the distribution of basic aid among the affected population.
These figures add to at least 16 dead and nearly 550 missing recorded in Chinese territory -- including 261 foreign citizens -- according to data provided by the authorities of the Asian giant, as well as the three bodies recovered in India.
On the other hand, the spokesperson for the United Nations General Secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric, has indicated at a press conference that the response to the disaster "is entering a new phase." "The authorities are intensifying aid efforts and recovery operations," he noted.
"For thousands of affected families, the priority now is to receive humanitarian assistance, recover and identify the remains of their loved ones, locate missing relatives, reunite separated children, and facilitate access to psychosocial support," Dujarric stated, who estimated that nearly 3,500 people have been displaced by the floods.
In this regard, he detailed that these displaced persons "are living in 27 displacement centers in the most affected districts, those of Nuwakot and Rasuwa, many of them in schools, which has a disruptive effect on the education of children," while calling on international partners to maintain support for the efforts of the Nepali government.
"Our humanitarian colleagues inform us that the main challenge at this moment is access. More than 40 bridges have been destroyed and sections of the main road remain blocked. The most remote communities continue to depend on Army helicopter flights to receive supplies," he warned. He also alerted to the "growing health risk" arising from "overcrowding in shelters, contaminated water, and damage to health centers," in the midst of the monsoon season.