At least 95 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing after a devastating flash flood swept through villages in northern Nepal on Wednesday, with Tibet reporting a related mudslide that has left three dead and 265 missing across the border, authorities said.
What Triggered the Disaster
The US Geological Survey recorded a 4.4 magnitude earthquake along the Nepal-China border, north of Kathmandu, at around 8:37am local time. Around the same time, an avalanche of ice and rock tore down a mountainside into the Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi River that flows from China into Nepal through deep gorges. Saswata Sanyal of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said the avalanche likely blocked the river before releasing a sudden surge downstream.
The floodwater swept away homes, schools, bridges and highways in Nepal’s Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts, with the Trishuli river among the worst-hit waterways. Nepali police put the confirmed death toll at 95 as of Wednesday, though officials cautioned the number is expected to rise as the water recedes and the full extent of the damage becomes clear.
‘Whole Villages Wiped Out’
Prayash Adhikari, a climate justice activist in Kathmandu, described the flood to Al Jazeera as having wiped out whole villages, destroying buildings, schools, bridges and highways. “Hundreds of people are missing,” he said. Nepal’s Home Ministry said 384 tourists, including 291 foreign nationals, were in the affected region at the time of the disaster, though it was not immediately clear how many remained unaccounted for.
Nepal’s prime minister has urged national unity in response to the disaster, as rescue teams work to reach cut-off communities across the mountainous region.
Tibet’s Side of the Border
China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported Wednesday evening that a landslide in Tibet’s Gyirong county had killed three people, with 265 others still missing, based on what officials described as a preliminary verification. The mudslide struck China’s Gyirong port, a key land crossing between China and Nepal, cutting off roads, communications and power in the surrounding Shigatse region, according to the Xinhua news agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out” efforts to search for the missing and urged authorities to strengthen monitoring and early warning systems to prevent further disasters in the region.
Downstream Concerns in India
Across the border in India, authorities in Bihar state began evacuating residents from six districts on Wednesday over fears that floodwaters could reach further downstream. The Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers eventually feed into larger river systems that flow into northern India, raising concerns about secondary flooding well beyond the immediate disaster zone.
What Happens Next
With rescue operations still underway on both sides of the border and the cause of the disaster still being formally verified, officials in Nepal and China say the death toll is likely to rise. The scale of destruction to roads, bridges and power infrastructure is expected to complicate relief efforts in the coming days, particularly in the remote, mountainous areas closest to the Nepal-Tibet border.
