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# Hundreds killed in Nepal flood as fears grow of secondary disaster

Nepali families in the impacted region and abroad anxiously await updates on their relatives. More than 700 foreign nationals, including Americans, remain missing.

Updated
1:49 PM EDT, Thu August 27, 2026

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"It's unlivable": Inside a Nepal village wrecked by deadly flood

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Source: CNN

"It's unlivable": Inside a Nepal village wrecked by deadly flood

1:10

**• Hundreds missing:** More than 1,300 people are missing — including at least 700 foreigners from two dozen countries, including the US — after catastrophic flash flooding hit China and Nepal on Wednesday. The death toll in Nepal has climbed to more than 350 people as search and rescue operations are hampered by a lack of connectivity, power and resources.

**• Secondary threat:** There is a "high risk" that a dam created during the landslide could breach and cause new flooding, Chinese authorities warned. Monsoon-fueled storms are also possible over the next few days in the flood zone.

**• What caused it:** Scientists are still working to determine exactly what caused the disaster. The US Geological Survey said a glacial collapse — when a large section of ice breaks off and falls down a slope — and landslide was behind the disaster. Dramatic footage shows a torrent of water hitting the mountainous region, submerging villages and wiping out bridges.

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38 min ago

Muddy water surges through Nepal's Rasuwa district, as seen in video taken from a helicopter during a rescue mission on Wednesday. Hiking Himalayas Treks & Expedition

Nepalis have been living through decades-long cycles of earthquakes, floods and landslides, only exacerbated by the human-caused climate crisis.

The country's deadliest disaster in decades was the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake — a 7.8 magnitude quake that killed nearly 9,000 people, injured nearly 22,000 others, displaced 2.8 million and damaged or destroyed over 600,000 buildings.

More recently, in July 2025, a glacial lake outburst that originated in Tibet surged into a flash flood through Nepal's Rasuwa district, killing at least eleven people and sweeping away the Nepal-China Friendship bridge.

In September 2024, record rainfall caused the heaviest downpour in the Kathmandu Valley since Nepal's modern hydrological monitoring began in 1970, triggering 132 separate landslides nationwide that led to extensive damage to roads, bridges, public buildings and health facilities. The monsoon floods and landslides killed over 200 people, hitting communities in the Bagmati, Narayani, and Koshi basins the hardest, including capital Kathmandu.

In November 2023, the Jajarkot earthquake killed at least 150 people and damaged over 4,000 homes.

And in June 2021, the Melamchi River flooded, triggered by a landslide-blocked tributary bursting. It killed at least five people and left 20 others missing, damaging the Melamchi drinking-water project and cutting off road access to several villages.

Monsoon floods in August 2017 killed more than 160 people across 35 districts, submerging roughly 80% of the Terai plains and displacing more than 450,000 people.

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50 min ago

Aerial imagery shows port on Nepal-China border completely obliterated

A major land crossing on the Nepal-China border was wiped away by massive flooding that hit it Wednesday morning, aerial imagery from the area shows.

The Gyirong Port, a hub that handled nearly a third of trade between Nepal and China in 2024, bore the direct impact of floodwaters that roared along the Nepal-China border before moving south into Nepal, ravaging bridges, homes and villages.

Most buildings at the port area, including a Chinese customs office and a police station at the Gyirong Port, the bridge connecting China and Nepal, and the customs building at the Rasuwa Port in Nepal, were destroyed by the landslide, according to aerial images released by the Chinese military.

People flee as huge wave of floodwater engulfs Nepal-China border crossing

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Source: CNN

Widely circulated videos showed a massive wall of water crashing into the Chinese side of the port and covering the entire landscape around it.

At least 558 people are still missing on the Chinese side of the border – including 260 foreigners – local officials said on Thursday.

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35 min ago

"High risk" that dam near Nepal-China border could burst, Chinese authorities warn

A lake, developing behind a dam created in the Nepal landslide, is pictured on Thursday, at the Nepal-China border. CCTV

There is a "high risk" that a dam created during a landslide in Nepal yesterday, behind which a lake is now developing, could breach and cause new flooding downstream, according to China's Ministry of Water Resources.

This could potentially cause "renewed flooding and damage in downstream areas, including the Gyirong Port," a major land border crossing between China and Nepal that was wiped out by the landslide, the ministry said in a statement. It could pose risks to Chinese emergency responders dispatched to the port area for rescue missions.

The lake, known as a "barrier lake," is forming near where Nepal's Chhochen Khola river meets the Purepu Tsangpo river, which flows into China, the ministry said.

The ministry added that it had dispatched a team of experts to China's Gyirong county, which faces the risk of landslides, mudslides and flash floods, to "assist with the emergency response to the barrier lake."

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2 hr 4 min ago

Video shows floodwaters carrying massive boulder downstream

Roaring floodwaters in Nepal carried a massive boulder downstream, video from the village of Taruka showed, demonstrating the massive force of the flooding and its ability to carry rocks and other debris that made it all the more destructive.

The video was taken more than 50 miles downriver from the site of the landslide that is believed to have contributed to the flooding.

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2 hr 25 min ago

Nepali police bolster rescue efforts, launch drone operations

Additional police teams, some with drones, have been deployed across central Nepal today amid ongoing search and rescue efforts, after yesterday's catastrophic flash flood, according to a police spokesperson.

Senior Nepali police officers and their teams have been sent to several affected areas following the flooding in the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers, spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle said, with some tasked with overseeing "drone-camera operations."

Also today, police called on all citizens in Nepal to avoid going near rivers or streams, flood-affected areas or other "high-risk locations."

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2 hr 35 min ago

Thousands of children saw their lives "literally washed away," says UNICEF

At least 17,000 children have been affected by the devastating floods, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Thursday.

"Children across Rasuwa and Dhading saw their lives being literally washed away in front of their eyes in a very short span of time, with homes, classrooms, and medical facilities damaged," said Alice Akunga, the UNICEF representative to Nepal.

Akunga said that the "tragedy is far from over," noting that the death toll is still rising.

"Children who have survived the floods now face heightened risks of disease, malnutrition, violence and exploitation," she said.

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2 hr 14 min ago

Flood wave like "liquid cement" hit with twice the force of water, scientist says

The wave of water, pulverized ice and rocks that tore through the steep mountain valleys on the Nepal-China border was so destructive because of what it contained, according to Hatim Sharif, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

The torrent was loaded with silt, sand, gravel and boulders, which all moved together as a single fluid that Sharif compared to "liquid cement."

At the same speed, "this material hits a building with roughly twice the force of water," Sharif said. The flood wave was able to carry with it "boulders the size of cars," he added.

People cannot outrun it, Sharif said. The only way to escape is to move upwards and climb at least six meters (nearly 20 feet).

Its composition also makes rescue efforts more hazardous. The debris can hold water for a long time, making it "treacherously variable," Sharif said. While one patch can bear a person's weight, another can swallow them to their waist.

Depth is another issue. The sediment left behind is likely to be many feet thick in places, he added, meaning searching for people "is done by probing and by hand, and it is very slow."

A big concern is that fresh rain could set everything moving again. "Downstream communities need to stay off the riverbanks even on days that look calm," Sharif said.

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3 hr 10 min ago

US State Department says 90 Americans are unaccounted for

The US State Department is aware of 90 Americans who may have been impacted by the Nepal flood and are unaccounted for, a spokesperson said Thursday.

As of Thursday at 8am ET, three Americans had been safely rescued, the spokesperson said.

The Department is not aware of any US citizen deaths at this time, they added.

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3 hr 17 min ago

Three bodies found in India as raging waters suspected to have carried remains from Nepal

Rescuers in India have recovered three bodies in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, with Reuters citing media reports that raging waters are suspected to have carried mud-covered remains downstream into the country from Nepal.

The bodies – two women and one man, according to State Disaster Force Constable Brijmohan – were recovered from the banks of Gandak River, which is overflowing after the Nepal deluge.

More than 350 people have been killed in Nepal by the catastrophic flash floods on Wednesday, and more than 1,300 people remain unaccounted for in the Himalayan region.

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3 hr 11 min ago

Rescuers battle difficult conditions to find survivors. Here are the latest headlines

Rescue workers are battling difficult conditions as they race to find survivors after a landslide and flash flood devastated communities on the China-Nepal border and in northern Nepal.

The Trishuli river is still flowing high, its waters blackened by silt and debris, while several bridges along it have been warped and twisted by the force of the water, a CNN team observed earlier today.

Flash flooding hit the Nepal–China border

A landslide the equivalent of a 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck the Nepal-China border Wednesday morning, triggering catastrophic flash flooding.

Here's what we know so far:

- **Rising death toll:** At least 353 people have died in Nepal while 826 remain missing, police reported earlier today. In China's Tibet, three people are confirmed dead and 558 are missing, according to state media. Authorities in Nepal have set up a website for "unidentified and unclaimed remains," which is being regularly updated. So far it has at least 80 pages, each with 20 entries of remains.

- **Over a thousand people missing:** Thousands of families are waiting in anguish to hear news of their loved ones, both in Nepal and around the world. The uncle of a missing US teenager, 14-year-old Rashi Shashidharan, told CNN he feels "helpless" and like he "can't do much." Some are gathered outside a hospital in Kathmandu, waiting for any news. "All I want is that my husband comes back to me safely in one piece. I do not want anything else," Subina Tamang told Reuters.

- **Rescue efforts:** While rescue workers race to locate any survivors, their efforts are being hindered by mud-blocked roads and damaged bridges as well as a lack of connectivity, power and resources. Even just trying to establish how many people are missing is proving difficult. Locals say they have no power and no way of checking in with their friends and family to let them know that they are alive. Chinese emergency responders arrived at the core disaster zone along the border earlier today and international organizations have mobilized too.

- **Fears of another surge:** Authorities in Nepal and China have both warned of a newly-formed lake on the Nepal side of the border which is at risk of bursting. Nepali authorities urged residents and rescue workers to remain vigilant and to stay in a safe place. Thirty-one tourists have been rescued from the mountainous Rasuwa district, which has borne the brunt of the flooding.

- **What caused this?** Scientists are honing in on the theory that the disaster was triggered by a huge glacier collapse and landslide, though the precise causes aren't exactly clear yet.

- **International condolences:** The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader for millions of followers of Tibetan Buddhism worldwide, offered prayers for those caught up in the disaster, while Pope Leo XIV has sent his "heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved."

CNN's Sophie Tanno, Amarachi Orie, Hanako Montgomery, Ross Adkin, Dan Campisi, Laura Paddison, Angela Fritz, Ivana Kottasová and Lucas Lilleholm contributed reporting

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5 hr 6 min ago

Dozens of missing foreign nationals found alive

Dozens of foreign nationals have been rescued amid intensifying efforts to find more flood survivors in Nepal and China.

The Nepal Tourism Board said 31 tourists had been rescued in the flood-stricken district of Rasuwa, including two US nationals, 11 Indian nationals, four South Koreans, two Italians, two Russians, one Bulgarian and one Swiss national.

"All efforts are underway to rescue/evacuate the injured and stranded people," it said in a statement on X.

Italian authorities have been able to contact 130 nationals who were previously unaccounted for, Italy's foreign ministry said.

At least 700 foreign nationals visiting the mountainous region are among the more than 1,300 people missing following the devastating flash floods that hit Nepal and China on Wednesday.

This post has been updated.

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5 hr 13 min ago

Uncle of US teen missing in Nepal flooding describes feeling "helpless"

The uncle of a US teenager missing in flash flooding in Nepal has described feeling "helpless" as he tries to obtain information about her and her mother's whereabouts.

New Yorker Rashi Shashidharan, 14, has been missing in Nepal alongside her mother Rekha Shashidharan, 54, since the catastrophe unfolded on Wednesday.

They are two of the several dozen American nationals who have been reported missing in the disaster. Overall, more than 1,300 people remain unaccounted for, including at least 700 foreign nationals.

Speaking to CNN from Mumbai, India, Rashi's uncle Shekhar Agrawal, an Indian national, said Rashi and Rekha had been traveling together and he had last spoken to the two of them at around 7:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, just over an hour before the floods struck.

According to Agrawal, his niece had been planning to do the trip solo and had been "very excited" about it. Her mother eventually decided to accompany her so that she wouldn't be traveling alone.

He said that the family is trying to get information about their whereabouts from various sources.

Most of the numbers provided for those seeking information about loved ones are not working, he said, although some of them started working late at night. "They were very responsive, but even they don't have information."

He added that the whole experience had left him feeling "helpless" and like he "can't do much."

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5 hr 48 min ago

Nepali police release website for unidentified remains

With at least 353 deaths recorded in Nepal and hundreds of people still unaccounted for following yesterday's flash floods, authorities have published a website for "unidentified and unclaimed" remains.

The website, which is being continuously updated, so far has at least 80 pages, each with 20 entries of remains.

Sharing details on X of the site, which features graphic imagery, Nepal Police said it allows people to see details of bodies affected by the catastrophic floods in the areas of Bhotekoshi and the Rasuwa district.

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5 hr 49 min ago

Mud, destroyed bridges and buried houses hint at the scale of Nepal's disaster

Around two hours from Kathmandu a CNN team drove along the Trishuli river, flowing high, its waters blackened by silt and debris washed down from the high Himalaya, in the latest natural disaster to hit Nepal.

A one-lane bridge over one of the Trishuli's tributaries was twisted from its foundation, with foliage and debris washed up on to the road. Men in high viz worked with power tools to cut trees free as around 50 people gathered to watch as the sun beat down.

A newer bridge built alongside it was still standing, but warped, and only just passable by car.

Five minutes further on, a bigger bridge across the still-raging Trishuli was cleaved cleanly in two. Next to it, one of the pedestrian-only wire-and-metal single bridges that link hundreds of small villages across Nepal's hills was still standing, but twisted and warped.

In Rata Mate town in Nuwakot municipality, the road ends. Thick mud more than six inches deep prevents vehicles going further despite the best efforts of three JCBs working to clear the blockage. Some people try to pass on motorcycles, others take off their shoes and walk through the mud. A man worked with a shovel to clear the silt outside one building near a truck that was partly buried. The windows on the ground floors of other buildings were almost completely caked up with mud.

In a huddle of anxious people, the local mayor told a police inspection team what happened and asked for support from authorities. He said he had no idea how many people were missing.

Niraj, who didn't want to give his last name, gestured across the hundred or so meters of silt brought rushing down this valley by the catastrophic flood. "All that was rice fields, and it's gone," he told CNN. He said no one had been killed or seriously injured in his town.

Rice is a staple across much of Nepal, and at this time of year, farmers are usually preparing to bring in the crop.

The road along the river winds for hours further through Nepal's middle hills, up to the high Himalaya at the Chinese border — where the districts hardest hit by Wednesday's disaster are located. As rescuers race to reopen it, it is likely the toll from Wednesday's disaster will become clearer.

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5 hr 48 min ago

Nepali authorities warn residents of another potential flood surge

Nepali authorities are warning about another potential flood surge as water levels in a newly-formed lake rise.

They urged residents and rescue workers on the banks of the Bhote Koshi river to be vigilant and to stay in a safe place given the risk of the lake overflowing.

We reported earlier that Chinese authorities have issued warnings about this lake, which formed on the Nepal side of the border in a scar left by a previous landslide. They've said the lake is continuing to expand, and that another 3 million cubic meters of water is expected to flow into it, creating a high risk of a breach.

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5 hr 59 min ago

Death toll from flash flooding climbs to 353 in Nepal

The death toll in Nepal from the catastrophic flash flooding that hit the border area has climbed to 353, while 826 remain missing, according to police.

An earlier update put the number of confirmed deaths at 270 in Nepal. Search and rescue operations remain ongoing, with foreign nationals and pilgrimage groups among the scores that are still unaccounted for.

These figures do not include China's Tibet, where state media reported that at least three people died and 558 were missing.

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5 hr 38 min ago

"I can just pray": Nepali families express worry amid wait for news

Nepali families in the flood-stricken region and abroad have been expressing their anxiousness as they await news on missing relatives.

"My father called my younger sister yesterday at around 7 p.m. and said he was going to Timure. By then, it was already around 7:30 or 8 p.m.," said Nepal resident Bhim Bahadur Tamang.

"Later, when we tried calling him again, his phone was unreachable," he continued. "Then we heard that a landslide had come down from that side."

"We still don't know whether he is alive because we haven't been able to reach him," Tamang added. "My brother has also gone there by car to see if he can find our father. We still have hope that our father may be alive."

Some Nepalese families living abroad said they found out about the devastating flash floods through videos on social media and felt helpless.

In London, 18-year-old Nepalese shop worker Diksha Thapa said she saw videos in which a "whole village is getting swept out."

In the "videos you can see, like, people screaming and some of the people are like, getting out of the flood, like they're muddy all over and getting out of there and shaking," Thapa continued.

"And I saw those videos and I was like, oh, I can't do anything, but I can just pray. And I was, like, praying yesterday. And I did pray today as well at the morning. And that's it, I can't do anything, but I can just pray. That's all I can do."

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6 hr 22 min ago

Lack of connectivity, power and resources hindering rescue efforts

A lack of connectivity, power and resources are hindering rescue efforts as authorities race to locate any survivors from the flash floods that devastated riverside communities in northern Nepal.

Even just trying to establish how many people are missing is proving difficult.

Locals say they have no power and no way of checking in with their friends and family to let them know that they are alive. Meanwhile, one mayor said they have no idea how many people are missing from that one town because there is no connectivity and not enough helicopters.

The river remains swollen and several bridges along it have been destroyed, meaning that locals cannot reach the other side and ascertain who needs rescuing. And some roads remain blocked with mud, restricting access to the worst affected areas.

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7 hr 33 min ago

Monsoon-fueled storms possible in the flood zone

Thunderstorms are possible for at least the next couple of days in the flood zone, as a notoriously wet seasonal weather pattern continues.

The region is in its monsoon season, so daily chances of rain are the norm. Some places could pick up multiple inches of rain in a few hours, while others see much less or even stay completely dry.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly where the most drenching downpours will occur, but the hardest-hit areas could experience them, which could challenge search and recovery efforts.

Nepal's monsoon typically lasts from June through September. The country sees about 80% of its rainfall during this time.

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7 hr 32 min ago

Rescue efforts intensify in flood zone as hundreds remain missing

Rescue efforts are intensifying in Nepal and China, where at least 270 bodies have been found following devastating flash flooding, while more than 1,300 remain missing—including more than 700 foreign nationals who were visiting the mountainous region, authorities said.

A catastrophic wall of water crashed through a valley, sweeping aside critical infrastructure and making it difficult to access the area, rescue victims and assess the scale of the disaster.

Heart-wrenching appeals are pouring in as families desperately await news of loved ones who have been unreachable for more than 24 hours.

Here's the latest:

- **Over 1,300 missing:** The number of people listed as missing in Nepal rose to 826 – including 517 foreigners, according to Nepalese authorities. At least 558 are still missing on the Chinese side – including 260 foreigners – local officials said. This brings the total number of missing people to at least 1,384.

- **Rescue efforts:** Chinese emergency responders arrived at the core disaster zone along the China-Nepal border, where teams are contending with major road blocks from mud and debris. In Nepal, rescue helicopters are struggling to land in affected areas due to high floodwaters. The European Union and India are among those that have announced plans to send humanitarian aid.

- **Flood trigger:** A glacial collapse was behind the flash flooding in Nepal's Rasuwa district, according to the US Geological Survey. Scientists said a huge chunk of ice plunged into the valley below, picking up sediment that was already waterlogged during the ongoing monsoon season. "No earthquake had occurred," the USGS confirmed.

- **Ongoing threat:** China has warned of a potential secondary disaster, with more rain forecast for Gyirong County this week. The region is already prone to landslides, mudslides and flash floods, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

- **Dalai Lama:** The Dalai Lama offered his prayers on Thursday to those killed in the disaster and pointed to climate change as a possible underlying cause.

CNN's Bhadra Sharma, Jerome Taylor, Laura Paddison, Lex Harvey and Sylvie Zhuang contributed reporting.

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