Nepal flash flood rescue efforts intensify as death toll rises

Satellite images show a valley of the Langtang Lirung mountain peak in Nepal on June 25, 2026, and Aug. 26, 2026, when devastating flooding struck the country. Sabrina Blanchard and Luca Matteucci/AFP/Getty Kathmandu, Nepal — Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety Friday as Nepal and China raced to respond after catastrophic flash floods and lanslides killed more than 540 people and left more than 1,000 missing.Nepal authorities said the death toll in the Himalayan nation rose to 538, according to French news agency AFP. Helicopters had carried more than 3,000 people to safety in Kathmandu and other locations, but local Nepalese media said there could still be as many as 12,000 people missing, many times the official counts offered by authorities.On the Chinese side, there was little information about survivors, although the death toll rose to five Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders' efforts to direct relief efforts. China's state media previously said 558 people were missing and Nepal's disaster management authority said Friday that 977 were unaccounted for. Hundreds of the missing are fo...