Hundreds of people missing after catastrophic flash floods swept through communities along the Nepal‒China border, killing at least 165 people and destroying roads, bridges, homes and power infrastructure.
The toll was expected to rise as teams reached areas buried under metres of mud and debris. The disaster struck on Wednesday in a rugged Himalayan corridor linking Tibet with Nepal and Kathmandu.
A wall of mud, rock and water surged through towns and valleys after what officials and scientists described as an ice-and-rock avalanche or glacier-related collapse.
The flood raced down the Lhende Khola and Bhotekoshi river systems, overwhelming settlements and a border crossing near Gyirong in China’s Tibet
Autonomous Region.
A rapidly changing toll
Nepalese police said at least 157 people had died in the country, while China’s state broadcaster, CCTV, reported three deaths in Tibet’s Gyirong County.
Reuters reported that Nepalese officials expected the death toll to pass 165 as searches resumed and additional bodies were recovered.
The number of missing people also increased sharply as authorities reconciled reports from remote districts, tourism operators and the Chinese side of the border.
Reuters said nearly 1,500 people—including at least 800 foreign nationals—were missing across Nepal and Tibet.
The reported total included 826 people in Nepal and 558 in Gyirong County, according to Nepalese authorities and CCTV respectively.
The missing included tourists, pilgrims, police officers, workers and local residents.
Nepalese officials earlier reported that hundreds of foreign nationals were unaccounted for, including citizens of India, the United States, Australia, Britain and Canada.
Many travellers had been on pilgrimage or trekking routes connected to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, sites revered by Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other faiths.
Because communications and road access were cut in the mountainous region, officials cautioned that the figures remained provisional.
The separate tallies for Nepal and Tibet
also reflect different reporting systems and should not be treated as a final combined casualty count.
Villages and vital links swept away
The floods destroyed or damaged at least 19 bridges and nearly 40 kilometres of road in Nepal, according to the Associated Press.
Villages, vehicles, homes and hydropower facilities were swept away, while thick layers of mud covered buildings in Nuwakot, Rasuwa and other hard-hit districts.
Nepalese authorities warned residents to stay away from the banks of the Trishuli, Bhotekoshi and Narayani rivers as flood risks persisted.
Satellite imagery reviewed after the disaster indicated that an ice-and-rock landslide unleashed a debris-laden flood in the Lhende River about 20 kilometres northeast of the Rasuwagadhi border crossing.
Video footage from the Chinese side showed people running from a torrent of rock, mud and water as buildings and vehicles were engulfed.
Early reports suggested that an earthquake might have triggered the event. The U.S. Geological Survey later said the recorded seismic signal was generated by the collapse of glacial rock and ice, followed by a debris flow, rather than a conventional earthquake.
Chinese authorities also warned of hazards from a lake that remained dammed upstream in Gyirong, a development that could complicate rescue work and threaten already isolated communities.
Experts at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said a glacier avalanche was the likely trigger. They reported that water levels in the Trishuli River rose by as much as nine metres in 30 minutes.
Researchers said the same river system had experienced another major flash flood within the previous 14 months, underscoring the growing risks posed by glacier melt, unstable slopes and intense weather in a warming Himalaya.
Rescue effort expands
More than 5,000 Nepalese army and police personnel were mobilised for search, rescue and recovery operations.
Helicopters were used to evacuate survivors and deliver tents, food and other emergency supplies to communities cut off by destroyed roads and bridges. Nepal also asked India and China to assist with rescue operations.
The United Nations said it was supporting Nepal’s government-led response by helping assess the scale of the disaster and delivering urgent assistance.
UN teams and humanitarian partners were mobilising supplies and personnel, including medical supplies, food, shelter and other relief items, while satellite imagery was being used to understand
the extent of the destruction.
In a statement issued on 26 August, Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “saddened by the severe flooding in Nepal and China” and expressed condolences to victims’ families.
He wished the injured a swift recovery, voiced solidarity with affected
communities and commended emergency responders.
International concern
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with the Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah and offered condolences.
Modi said India stood with Nepal and was ready to provide “all possible humanitarian assistance”; Indian teams, he said, were coordinating with Nepalese authorities on rescue and relief efforts.
The United States said it was deploying a disaster-response adviser and providing $500,000 through Catholic Relief Services for emergency shelter, relief supplies, and water, sanitation and hygiene assistance.
The U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu was also working with local authorities to locate and assist American citizens in the affected areas.
Other governments reported citizens missing or potentially affected. South Korea said nine citizens working at a hydropower project in Nepal were unaccounted for, while Malaysia reported that travel agencies had lost contact with 11 Malaysians believed to be in Rasuwa district.
Russia’s embassy said four citizens reportedly in the affected area were missing. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney described the floods as “absolutely devastating.”
Australia, Britain, the European Union, Finland, France, Norway and Switzerland issued a joint expression of solidarity and urged people in affected areas to follow local authorities’ instructions and official safety advisories.
With rescue teams still working in isolated valleys and weather and terrain slowing access, authorities warned that the scale of the disaster might not become clear for days.
For survivors, the immediate priorities remained finding missing relatives, restoring communications and roads, and delivering shelter, food, clean water and medical care across a border region where the flood erased entire sections of the landscape.
