By Ju-min Park BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Priyanka Choudhary, an Indian-born Finnish citizen returning from a Hindu pilgrimage in Tibet, was at a border crossing with Nepal when a catastrophic mudslide hit.

The Indian Embassy in China has asked families of Indians missing in the Tibet flood to submit DNA samples. The move follows Chinese confirmation that CODIS-based matching can now aid identification of the 49 missing Indians.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said a glacial collapse caused the flash floods that swept through Nepal and Tibet in late August 2026, engulfing entire villages and killing hundreds. However, conspiracy theorists on social media quickly pinned the torrent on an Alaskan research project instead,

Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said 324 foreign nationals had been rescued so far, while about 590 from 39 countries remained missing a week later.

So far, little has been released about those caught in the disaster here, with few faces and names attached to the hundreds of people still unaccounted for.

The death toll from last week's flash flooding disaster in the Nepal-Tibet border region rose to at least 919 people as of Monday.

China has ⁠fully ⁠reopened the only road leading to ⁠the Gyirong border crossing into Nepal a week after sections were washed away ​by catastrophic flooding, allowing heavy machinery to reach the main disaster zone for the first time.

A Baltimore tour group is among those missing after the severe flooding that hit areas near Nepal and Tibet's border.

Hindus know it as the dwelling place of Shiva, Tibetan Buddhists as the abode of Demchog, and Jains as the site where Rishabhanatha, their first spiritual teacher, achieved liberation.

Some family members of those unaccounted for have expressed frustration with what they see as paltry updates on the dead and missing. China says its information-sharing has been “transparent and timely.