KATHMANDU : Nepal has rescued more than 11,000 people from areas devastated by massive flash floods, even as the death toll climbed to 939 and thousands remained missing in one of the country’s worst recent natural disasters.

Search and rescue operations continued on Tuesday across badly affected districts, with more than 22,000 security personnel mobilised and helicopters deployed to reach communities cut off by flooding and damaged infrastructure.

According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), personnel from the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been deployed across the affected regions. Official figures showed that 11,379 people had been rescued, while more than 3,900 remained unaccounted for as operations continued.

NDRRMA spokesperson Shanti Mahat said determining the exact number of missing people remains difficult as authorities continue to collect information from local governments, security agencies, hydropower projects and other institutions. Earlier official estimates had put the missing figure above 4,000.

Rescue efforts have also focused heavily on hydropower project sites, where workers and technicians were caught in the disaster.

Hundreds of workers have been rescued from affected hydropower facilities, while specialist teams, including experts from neighbouring countries, have been assisting operations in tunnels and other difficult-to-access locations.

At the Upper Trishuli 1 Hydropower Project, rescue teams have been working to locate workers believed to have been trapped following the flooding. The hydropower sector has been among the areas hardest hit by the disaster, with several projects damaged or cut off.

Authorities are also facing the enormous task of identifying recovered bodies. Hundreds remain unidentified, while bodies that cannot immediately be identified are being handled in accordance with established procedures.

Temporary shelters have meanwhile been arranged for thousands of displaced residents as relief operations expand across affected districts.

The disaster has also prompted fresh warnings over rising river levels.

The NDRRMA issued an alert for residents living along the Bishnumati River after water levels near the Gongabu area crossed the danger mark, urging people in riverbank communities to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions.

The floods, which struck several districts including Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Chitwan, Tanahun and the Nawalparasi region, have destroyed infrastructure, isolated communities and left thousands of families awaiting news of missing relatives.

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