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| Nepal flash flood site |
Rescuers are struggling to reach remote disaster zones after more than 160 people were killed and hundreds remain missing following catastrophic flash floods and mudslides along the Nepal-Tibet border.
The disaster struck the Rasuwa district of Nepal and adjacent areas in China’s Gyirong county, near the Bhotekoshi River, a region popular with pilgrims, trekkers and tourists heading toward Mount Kailash. The floods and debris flows wiped away homes, roads, bridges and parts of villages, leaving widespread destruction visible in aerial images.
Nepali police put the death toll at 162, with dozens of bodies recovered downstream in districts including Chitwan and Nawalparasi East. Hundreds of people are still unaccounted for. Officials reported that the missing include more than 100 Indian nationals, 54 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from the United Kingdom, and over 100 Nepalis. Dozens of Nepalese police officers, army personnel and power workers are also among those missing.
On the Tibetan side of the border, Chinese state media reported that the number of missing in Gyirong county had risen to 558, including 260 foreign nationals, though the confirmed death toll there remained lower. The Gyirong border crossing is a major route for tourists and traffic between the two countries.
Authorities initially suspected an earthquake may have triggered the flooding. However, the US Geological Survey later determined that the seismic signals were generated by a large landslide rather than tectonic activity. Nepalese meteorological officials suggested a massive chunk of ice may have collapsed from a mountain, pulling rocks and sediment with it and creating a deadly debris flow. Scientists noted that while climate change is accelerating glacial melt in the Himalayas, it is too early to determine its precise role in this event.
The Nepali army has deployed 2,000 troops for land and aerial search-and-rescue operations, focusing on the worst-hit areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot. So far, military teams have rescued at least 97 people, including workers trapped in a hydropower project tunnel. Police and armed police forces are also assisting.
International assistance is arriving. The United States pledged $500,000 for emergency shelter, water, sanitation and relief supplies. China, the European Union and India have also offered support or dispatched materials. Nepal’s government sent approximately eight tonnes of relief items, including blankets, mosquito nets, solar lights and sleeping bags, via army trucks.
Survivors have described harrowing scenes. One man said he watched his wife swept away by a “huge gush of mud” that reached the upper floors of his home. Another woman recounted how her family was carried off in front of her; she and her son survived by climbing onto a rooftop.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the entire nation was “shocked and deeply distressed.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed solidarity and confirmed that UN teams were mobilising support for the government-led response.
As search efforts continue in difficult mountainous terrain, the death toll is expected to rise further. The disaster has underscored the vulnerability of communities and tourists in the high Himalayas to sudden geological and weather-related events.