Nepal flash floods: At least 95 dead and over 350 missing, including 291 foreigners, missing
The death toll from the flash flood that struck the Himalayan border region of Nepal and China’s Tibet on Wednesday (August 26, 2026) has risen to 95, Nepal police said.
The flood damaged roads, hydropower projects and other critical infrastructure, including telecommunications networks. More than 30 helicopters, operated by the Nepal Army and private operators, were deployed for search-and-rescue operations.
Nepal flash flood: At least 50 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu stranded as landslips disrupt route
An aerial view of the houses partially submerged in mud-laden flash flood following an outburst in the Bhotekoshi River, in Rasuwa on August 26, 2026. (Videograb)
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ANI
Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal told Parliament in the afternoon that dozens of security personnel and government officials could not be contacted. Twenty-six Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel in Rasuwa, along with 44 Nepal Army personnel stationed at Timure and Mailung, were among those reported out of contact. Some customs and immigration officials at Rasuwagadhi and civilians in the affected areas were also unaccounted for.
The Nepal Tourism Board said 384 travelers, including 291 foreign nationals and 93 Nepali nationals, had been reported missing or could not be contacted in the affected areas. The preliminary list included 105 Indian nationals. The information was being verified and cross-checked with travel agencies, guides, local authorities and security agencies.
Authorities were scrambling to ascertain the cause of the flood.
In this screengrab from a video posted on August 26, 2026, Floodwater flows across a residential area, in Nepal. Photo:X/@NepalPoliceHQ via PTI
The areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000, were severely affected, officials said, while urging those living on the banks of the Bhote Koshi river to seek higher ground. The Bhote Koshi River originates in Tibet and empties into Nepal’s Trishuli river that eventually flows into India as the Gandak river.
The sudden rise in water caused widespread destruction in Timure in Rasuwa district and the nearby Syafrubesi area, with vehicles, goods and other property washed away, the Nepal Army said in a statement.
In this image received on August 26, 2026, Debris lies scattered after a sudden and massive flood surged through the Bhote Koshi River, killing four people, in Rasuwa, Nepal. Photo: Handout via PTI
Mr. Khanal told Parliament that preliminary information suggested an earthquake at around 8:37 a.m. had triggered an ice avalanche, which was followed by the flood around 8:40 a.m. “The information needed further verification,” he said.
Officials at the Flood Forecasting Division had separately said they received information that a landslide may have blocked a river in Tibet before water burst through. In an update at 1:35 p.m., the division said, citing information from the Chinese side, that the blocked river had yet to fully open.
The Bhotekoshi River, which originates in Tibet, flows into Nepal’s Trishuli River, which eventually enters India as the Gandak River.
Earlier in the morning, after the floods hit the region, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said police and army personnel were being deployed for rescue and relief.
This frame grab from a UGC footage courtesy of Nepal Police shows floodwaters crashing through the Bhote Koshi River after flash floods in Rasuwa district on August 26, 2026. Photo: UGC / Nepal Police / AFP
“Instructions have been given to move the people living in the lower areas to safe places,” he said. “People along the river are advised to exercise extra caution and remain alert.”
Mr. Khanal told Parliament that the flood had caused extensive damage in Timure and Syafrubesi in Rasuwa and in Betravati, Trishuli, Battar and Devighat in neighbouring Nuwakot. Roads, bridges, hydropower and communications infrastructure were among those damaged.
According to Nepali authorities, there had been no rain in the region before the floods hit, while rainfall was recorded on the Tibetan side. In July last year, flash floods in the same Bhotekoshi River, which also occurred without rain, killed nine people and washed away the Miteri Pul (Friendship Bridge) linking Nepal and China.
Officials said it would take days to assess the full extent of the damage.
A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (August 26) afternoon directed authorities to urgently restore roads, electricity and telecommunications in the affected areas and to mobilise resources for the reconstruction of damaged public infrastructure. It also decided to declare the affected local governments in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading disaster-crisis areas for three months.
The recurrence of floods has been a cause for concern for quite some time, with experts pointing to the need for a more comprehensive approach to disaster preparedness, infrastructure planning and mitigation.
“I think we should analyse today’s incident in a larger frame; it’s not a standalone event. The Melamchi, Roshi, and Seti floods, etc, show that these kinds of extreme events are occurring across the Himalayas and are becoming more frequent,” said Ramesh Bhusal, a journalist who has extensively covered climate change and its impact. “While such disasters may happen regardless of our understanding, the high casualties are the result of ignorance.”
A construction spree along rivers in Nepal’s northern regions, driven in part by the country’s push to expand hydropower as an economic booster, has remained a concern for environmentalists and climate experts.
A flooded road following a flash flood in Galchhi in the Dhading district, Nepal, on August 26, 2026.
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Reuters
Mr. Bhusal said casualties could have been reduced if authorities had planned infrastructure projects and settlements better.
“A lot of infrastructure — hydropower projects, roads, bridges and settlements — is being built along vulnerable Himalayan river corridors. But we haven’t integrated climate risks as far as I know,” said Mr. Bhusal. “Have we changed the design? Have we done better assessments? Have we done better modelling that could provide robust scientific information? Many of these questions have one answer: NO.”
Experts say only a thorough assessment could determine the cause of the flood. Preliminary accounts have pointed to an earthquake-triggered ice avalanche or a landslide blocking a river, while scientists are also examining whether a glacial process, possibly a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF), may have contributed.
A 2020 inventory by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) identified 3,624 glacial lakes in the Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali river basins of Nepal, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and India, of which 47 were classified as potentially dangerous. One of the potentially dangerous lakes is upstream of the Trishuli River in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and was classified as requiring close monitoring.
The inventory found 42 potentially dangerous glacial lakes in the Koshi basin, three in the Gandaki basin and two in the Karnali basin. Of the 47, 25 were in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, 21 in Nepal and one in India.
“Never seen or heard of the massive floods that hit Rasuwa today,” Madhukar Upadhya, a climate change expert and watershed management practitioner, said in reaction to Wednesday’s Bhotekoshi flood. “It’s beyond anything we have ever imagined.”
Upadhya said floods, both big and small, are natural, but climate change is making these risks increasingly damaging and more frequent.
“Today’s event signals what we should be prepared for. Our landscape is not suitable for large infrastructures that we see in the Alps,” he added. “As they say, cut your coat according to …. the same goes for infrastructure.”
(With inputs from agencies.)
