Nepal says rebuilding could cost $4 to $5 billion
Nearly 3,000 people are still missing. Indian and Chinese tunnel teams have arrived.
Nepal's finance minister has put a number on the rebuild. Swarnim Wagle told Reuters it could cost $4 to $5 billion. He called the figure initial. The loss is still being assessed.
Nearly 3,000 people are still missing. That includes about 2,426 in Nepal and 554 in Tibet's Gyirong. At least 540 of the missing are foreign nationals. Many of them are Hindu pilgrims from India. The Ministry of External Affairs said 275 Indian nationals are missing.
Deaths stand at least at 669 in Nepal and 7 in Tibet. The glacier collapsed on Wednesday.
Indian tunnel experts arrived on Saturday. China dispatched five tunnel experts, with four more due. India has sent three flights with 60 tons of relief.
Bodies are decomposing. Some districts plan to take DNA samples, then bury. The lake overflow risk eased on Saturday.
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal asked for specialist help. He named tunnels, transport, DNA, and body storage.
The search now sits beside a reconstruction bill, a missing-persons list, and a forensic problem.
The number of missing is still larger than the number of confirmed dead. Families in India are waiting on names. So are families in Nepal and Tibet. The Indian count from the MEA is 275 missing. The foreign missing list is larger still, at least 540, with many of them pilgrims.
Tunnel teams from India and China are now on the ground. That is the specialist help Kathmandu asked for. Relief flights are the other Indian line. India has sent three flights with 60 tons.
The money figure is new, and it is still a first pass. Wagle said the loss is being assessed. A $4 to $5 billion rebuild, even as an initial number, tells you the scale he is already working with.
DNA and burial plans in some districts follow a grim fact. Bodies are decomposing. Identification has to happen before the ground takes them.
Watch the missing count, the DNA work, and whether the $4 to $5 billion estimate holds as the loss is assessed. The lake risk eased on Saturday. That can change.