Nepal races to rescue trapped workers, as flood death toll surpasses 900 - Al Jazeera

**Nepal grapples with catastrophic monsoon floods that have claimed more than 900 lives and left over 4,000 people missing, officials said on Thursday.** The disaster, triggered by unprecedented rainfall in the Himalayas, has inundated dozens of villages across the central and western regions, sweeping away homes, roads and bridges. The government’s disaster response unit confirmed that rescue teams are still battling swollen rivers and landslides to reach isolated communities, while the Red Cross and several UN agencies have mobilised emergency shelters and medical supplies for the displaced.

**Complicating the rescue effort, a mining tunnel in the Kaski district has trapped 93 workers, sparking a frantic search that has yet to locate any survivors.** Authorities deployed a thermal‑imaging drone to scan the collapsed shaft, but the device returned no signs of life, prompting officials to broaden the operation to include ground‑penetrating radar and manual excavation. The tunnel collapse, which occurred amid the flooding, has highlighted the vulnerability of Nepal’s informal labor force, many of whom lack formal safety protections and are employed in hazardous, unregulated sites.

**The scale of the disaster has also raised geopolitical concerns, with human‑rights groups accusing neighboring China of downplaying flood damage in the Tibetan plateau that feeds Nepal’s river systems.** The Guardian reported that Tibet campaigners claim Chinese authorities have restricted the flow of information about rising water levels and dam releases that could exacerbate downstream flooding. Nepal’s prime minister has appealed for international aid, and neighboring India, Bangladesh and the United States have pledged additional funds and technical assistance to support rescue operations, infrastructure repair, and long‑term climate‑resilience planning.