KATHMANDU
:The confirmed death toll from the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood rose to 1,385 as of Friday morning, with around 5,130 people still listed as missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority's (NDRRMA) latest update.
Chitwan recorded the highest number of deaths at 364, followed by Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta Purba) with 228, Nawalparasi (Bardaghat Susta Paschim) with 222, Nuwakot with 199, and Rasuwa with 185. Gorkha, Dhading and Tanahun recorded 77, 70 and 38 deaths respectively, and two more people died from their injuries while under treatment in Kathmandu.
More than 21,000 security personnel remain deployed in the affected districts, supported by over 1,700 helicopter flights since the disaster began. A total of 13,676 people have been rescued from high-risk zones so far. Separately, 3,685 displaced people are currently sheltered across 37 holding centres, and the government has released Rs 150 million in immediate assistance to affected families
.A missing-person count that has barely moved
Friday's 5,130 figure is only marginally lower than the roughly 5,132-5,326 range reported daily over the past week, a trend ICN has tracked in earlier coverage. Authorities say the missing list — which combines local residents, people from other districts who were in the area, foreign nationals, security personnel and government staff — is revised only as bodies are formally identified; 104 previously unidentified bodies were confirmed and removed from the list in the update preceding Friday's figures.
Police have again urged families of missing people to submit DNA samples and identification documents at local police offices, to help identify remains that have not yet been claimed — the same appeal ICN reported on earlier this week, when it examined the strain on Nepal's two DNA-testing laboratories.
ICN also notes an unresolved, smaller discrepancy worth flagging for readers following multiple sources: Nepal Police's own separately reported tally, cited by at least one international outlet earlier this week, put recovered bodies at a slightly lower figure than NDRRMA's parallel count on the same approximate date. The two agencies' figures have tracked closely but not identically throughout the disaster response, and neither should be read as a correction of the other — both are official counts, maintained by different agencies for different purposes.
Beyond the human toll: schools now assessed
The same reporting cycle brought Nepal's first official estimate for education-sector damage: the government's Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment puts the cost of recovering flood-affected schools at more than Rs 2.34 billion. Eighteen schools were affected, of which 11 were completely destroyed and seven partially damaged, disrupting the education of more than 9,000 students. An estimated Rs 105 million is needed immediately to begin rebuilding damaged structures, according to the assessment.
Why this remains the central story for diaspora readers
More than two weeks on, this disaster continues to be the single most consequential story coming out of Nepal for ICN's global readership — not only because of its scale, but because hundreds of the missing are foreign nationals, and because Nepali families abroad may themselves be waiting on word about relatives in the affected districts. The slow, incremental movement in the missing-person count reflects the genuine difficulty of the identification process, not inaction; but for families still waiting, that distinction offers little comfort. ICN will continue to track official updates and flag any material change in the counts, methodology, or identification process as they become available.
