Over 1,300 are missing in Nepal and Tibet after catastrophic floods

People walk past damage in the aftermath of flash floods in Devighat, Nepal [AP Photo]

Rescue teams searched yesterday for hundreds of missing people along the Nepal-China border after a catastrophic and deadly torrent of floods and mud swept through several communities a day earlier following a glacier collapse.

The disaster left at least 168 people dead and more than 1,300 missing, including foreigners and pilgrims, and displaced hundreds of people across the Himalayan region.

Videos of the tragedy showed the flood swallowing up people as they tried to escape, and destroying buildings and bridges. Yesterday, drone footage from Nepal showed the scale of the destruction.

The region’s steep valleys are economic lifelines and travel corridors, but are precarious when disaster strikes. Images showed what appeared to be the second floors of buildings in Nuwakot slathered in mud after the torrent rushed by. Debris hung from tree branches and wires, vehicles were buried and some stunned survivors were caked in mud. The floods halted travel in some areas.

There was little time for anyone to flee.

Resident Jaleshwar Kumar Sahni received a phone call on Wednesday morning from an area close to the border that a lot of water was flowing through there, and later the flash floods destroyed everything in just 15 minutes.

“We don’t have anything left,” he said.

Warming climate threatens communities

The Himalayan mountain range spans several countries in South Asia and has many of the world’s highest peaks and remaining glaciers.

The steep slopes and the lush valleys below the Himalayan mountain range are especially vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and extreme weather events. Melting glaciers have become more common because of warming because of human-caused climate change.

Researchers in Kathmandu found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting faster, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000.

Helicopters deployed as roads were damaged

The disaster has left at least 165 dead and 826 people missing in Nepal, and three dead and 558 missing in Tibet, authorities said.

Nepalese officials said that dozens of bridges were destroyed and nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads were damaged, complicating search efforts.

The Nepalese army has rescued more than 100 people from flood-affected areas through helicopter operations yesterday morning, army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said.

At least eight foreign nationals were airlifted to the country’s capital, Kathmandu, he said, adding that army teams also evacuated people trapped inside facilities linked to the Trishuli hydropower project.

Rescuers found bodies hundreds of kilometers downstream from the disaster zone in Chitwan district. Dozens of injured people have been transported to Kathmandu for advanced medical care.

Bishal Kumar Bhandari, chairman of the Nepal Red Cross Society, said they have shifted focus from rescue to large-scale relief operations in the flood-hit districts. He said that around 1,200 people were displaced from at least three villages.

In Tibet, a mudslide that struck near the land border crossing of Gyirong Port on Wednesday left mud in the surrounding areas more than 1½ meters (5 feet) deep on average, with some road sections exceeding 2 meters (6 feet), Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. Roads leading to the port were all damaged, while secondary collapses or landslides might occur as rain continued in the area, it added.

CCTV said that a barrier lake has also been discovered in the direction of the port, posing challenges to the rescue operation. Chinese authorities deployed a large military transport aircraft to send a team to the region, it said.

While electricity supply and communication resumed in the central urban areas in Gyirong town, those linked to the port were cut off, it said.

Hundreds of foreigners are missing

According to Nepal’s Tourism Board, 517 of the missing people in the country were foreigners and 178 of them were from India. It wasn’t immediately clear how many missing Indian nationals were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.

More than 60 of those unaccounted for in Nepal were from the U.S. and the rest were from 30 other countries, ranging from Ukraine and the U.K to South Africa and Japan, the Tourism Board said.

In addition, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said that nearly 100 Chinese citizens were missing on the Nepal side. CCTV earlier reported 260 of those missing in Tibet were foreigners.

Experts say glacier collapse caused floods

The U.S. Geological Survey first reported a magnitude 4.4 earthquake early Wednesday, about 66 kilometers (41 miles) north of Kathmandu, near the border.

The USGS later updated its analysis to say the seismic event it measured was a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery, and that no earthquake had occurred.

Climate experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said an avalanche from a glacier likely caused Wednesday’s flash flood.

“Hydrological observations indicate the exceptional speed and magnitude of the flood wave,” they said in an emailed statement, noting that water levels at one point on the Trishuli river rose by as much as 9 meters (27 feet) over half an hour.

The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi, had maximum flooding, they said.

The disaster in Nepal and Tibet is not a one-off. The increasingly unstable Himalayan ice system threatens communities, infrastructure and water supplies across one of the world’s most densely populated regions.

The region saw similar flash floods in August 2025, when a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed because of high temperatures. Nine people were killed, and critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China, was damaged. NIRANJAN SHRESTHA & SHRISTI KAFLE, DEVIGHAT, MDT/AP