Live updates: Massive flash flood on Nepal-Tibet border leaves more than 1,000 missing, including U.S. tourists

## What to know
- At least 469 people have been killed and more than 1,000 are missing after [catastrophic floods swept through towns and valleys](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/flash-flood-nepal-tibet-villages-destroyed-american-tourists-missing-rcna594473) along the border between Nepal and China's Tibet region. Officials say the [death toll is expected to rise](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/videos-nepal-tibet-flash-flooding-destruction-rcna594515).
- More than 500 foreigners from 32 countries are among those still unaccounted for in the rugged mountainous region, which is popular with pilgrims and trekkers. They include 90 Americans, according to the State Department. The Nepal Tourism Board said there are 127 missing travelers from Nepal.
- Chinese officials said three people were dead, two had been rescued and 558 were missing, including 260 foreign nationals, after a mudslide at a land crossing in Tibet's Gyirong county. It was not immediately clear whether China and Nepal were counting some of the same people.
- [Videos](https://x.com/PriyankaJh24/status/2092536144500232401?s=20) show [bridges being cracked apart and swept away](https://x.com/Sachingupta/status/2092526321721332062?s=20) in Nepal's hardest-hit Rasuwa region by the force of raging waters filled with mud and debris. Authorities said the floods damaged dozens of bridges and almost 25 miles of road, complicating rescue efforts.
- The exact cause of the disaster was not immediately clear, but officials in Nepal said it appeared to have been "triggered by a landslide associated with a glacial event in the Himalayan region, sending a sudden and destructive surge of water downstream."
NEW UPDATES
18m ago / 12:27 AM EDT
## Satellite images show buildings completely swept away by floods
Before and after views of the Rasuwagadhi border post on the China-Nepal border.  Satellite image ©2026 Vantor
Satellite images captured today reveal the devastating power of the floods along the Nepal-Tibet border. Areas that once had buildings are now swept clean. In some images, it's difficult to find any traces of the structures that had once stood there.
Before and after views of the Trishuli River on the China-Nepal border. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor
Before and after views of of Syapru Besi village along the China-Nepal border. Satellite image ©2026 Vantor
2h ago / 11:18 PM EDT
## Death toll rises to 469, Nepal police say
Authorities in Nepal have recovered a total of 469 bodies after a catastrophic flood tore through the Himalayan border region between Nepal and China's Tibet region, Nepal's police [said Friday morning local time on X.](https://x.com/NepalPoliceHQ/status/2093165860768944581)
Hundreds of others have been rescued, officials said, including dozens who received medical treatment at hospitals in the capital, Kathmandu.
4h ago / 9:39 PM EDT
## Boulders barrel through floodwaters in Nepal's Nuwakot district
Videos from Nepal show massive boulders being swept downstream as catastrophic floods tore through communities along the border between Nepal and China's Tibet region, killing hundreds of people and leaving more than 1,000 missing.
A video verified by NBC News shows a boulder hurtling through fast-moving water in Ratmate, in Nepal's Nuwakot district. People watch from a nearby building as it is carried downstream. Another video verified by NBC News from nearby Taruka shows a massive boulder churning through floodwaters near homes along the river.
The videos offer another view of the destruction left by the flooding, which struck the Himalayan region yesterday. Experts say the flooding might have been caused by a glacier collapse, sending a torrent of water, mud and debris through communities along the border.
The flooding has devastated communities across Nepal, washing away homes, roads and bridges and leaving some areas difficult for rescuers to reach. Rescue teams have searched for survivors along swollen rivers as authorities warned of continuing danger from flooding and landslides.
4h ago / 8:45 PM EDT
## Stuck in the mud: Rescue efforts face big challenges
The rushing floodwaters swept away roads, vehicles and even buildings, encasing entire settlements in a thick layer of mud that makes for horrible conditions for any rescue efforts.
Buildings covered in heavy mud Thursday in Trishuli, Nepal.Ezra Acayan / Getty Images
Several years ago, I reported from Indonesia after an earthquake and a tsunami, and something that always stuck with me was seeing a village just totally swallowed by mud after a wave of water hit.
Then, rescuers were digging down delicately into the mud, and people were identifying deceased relatives by small details like the earrings they were wearing.
This is what search-and-rescue teams will be encountering: a landscape that has been forcefully rearranged.
The roads are gone and the bridges are gone, so they need to go in by helicopter. It becomes a much slower process than they need it to be.
5h ago / 7:52 PM EDT
## Climate change likely played a role in the disaster, experts say
While it will take time to determine the exact cause of the mudslide and flood disaster, analysts say climate change is likely to have played a role.
The Himalayan region - which includes Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China and Afghanistan - is among the places most vulnerable to climate change in the world, with temperatures rising faster than the global average. Rising temperatures are accelerating glacial melt, further destabilizing a region that is already prone to floods, landslides and earthquakes.
They could also increase the likelihood of glacial collapses, like the one that occurred yesterday. The disaster is thought to have begun when a massive amount of ice and rock crashed into the valley below, setting off catastrophic floods that wiped away roads, buildings and entire villages.
"We will not be able to attribute 100% that this is because of climate change, because these changes have been happening" over a long period of time, said Neera Shrestha Pradhan, an expert at Nepal's International Center for Integrated Mountain Development. But climate change might be breaking a threshold, she said, and "maybe that might be one of the causes of this happening."
Flooding along the Bhotekoshi River in Nuwakot, Nepal. AP Tolang / Sipa USA via AP
6h ago / 6:58 PM EDT
## Against a fast and furious surge of water, there was nowhere to hide
Nobody had time to prepare.
A wall of water, ice, rock, mud and debris moved rapidly through a narrow mountain valley, leaving destruction in its path.
It really was fast and furious, and there was, in most cases, nowhere for people to hide.
The mud that encased everything - vehicles, buildings and people - is particularly horrible for rescuers working to find people still trapped and get them out.
There are other challenges for rescue efforts, too: There are no electricity and no clean water, and communications are limited.
With more than 1,500 people reported missing, it is only now, more than 24 hours later, that the devastation of the floods is coming into a fuller view.
Officials in Nepal have dealt with disasters of great magnitude in the past, and even they say it's the worst in recent memory.
Rescue teams collect a body Thursday in Nuwakot, Nepal.Sanjit Pariyar / NurPhoto via Getty Images
7h ago / 5:54 PM EDT
## Posters put up at Kathmandu hospital seeking information about people missing after floods
At the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, where most survivors of the catastrophic floods are being treated, people have put up posters appealing for help finding missing relatives.
Janis Mackey Frayer / NBC News
8h ago / 4:55 PM EDT
## 90 Americans remain unaccounted for in Nepal, State Department spokesperson says
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott told Fox News today that the agency is working with local authorities in Nepal to locate 90 Americans who remain unaccounted for following the disaster.
"We have 90 Americans that are currently unaccounted for, that we're in coordination with local authorities to try to locate. We are unaware of any American casualties at this time. And, of course, we can confirm that three Americans have been rescued," Pigott said.
Pigott added that a disaster response adviser was already in the region to provide recommendations about how to best distribute the $500,000 in aid the U.S. has already sent for emergency humanitarian needs, such as "shelter, food, sanitation, things that are desperately needed."
9h ago / 4:14 PM EDT
## Sniffer dogs search for survivors in the mud in Nepal
Prakash Mathema / AFP via Getty Images
Rescue teams scoured devastated zones today for more than 1,000 people missing a day after flash floods and landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border swept away entire villages.
Niranjan Shrestha / AP
10h ago / 3:17 PM EDT
## Devastating floods leave more than 17,000 children in urgent need, UNICEF estimates
UNICEF [said today](https://www.unicefusa.org/press/flash-floods-nepal-leave-more-17000-children-need-urgent-humanitarian-assistance) that thousands of children face loss and displacement after flash floods tore through Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts.
At least 14 children are among the 332 people killed in the disaster, while hundreds remain missing, according to UNICEF.
The organization estimates that at least four health facilities offering services to children and families were severely damaged.
UNICEF hygiene kits at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, for delivery to flood-affected communities.Robic Upadhayay / UNICEF
11h ago / 2:32 PM EDT
## Trump says U.S. will offer Nepal 'any help they need'
President Donald Trump has vowed to send Nepal "any help that they need" as it grapples with the aftermath of the devastating floods.
Speaking after he signed an executive order to change the name of Lake Ontario, Trump responded to a question about the flooding, saying that "very powerful, strong, well-built buildings were wiped out like they were toothpicks."
Ritesh Shukla / Getty Images
Trump said he spoke to Nepali officials and acknowledged that many Americans are still missing.
"We've called Nepal, and we've offered any help that they need," he said.
So far, the State Department has announced $500,000 in humanitarian assistance for Nepal. A spokesperson said the initial funding through Catholic Relief Services would support "emergency shelter, relief items, and water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance to flood-affected communities in Nepal."
11h ago / 2:00 PM EDT
## In Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, rescue efforts gear up and relatives wait for answers
My flight into Kathmandu was full of tourists coming to Nepal - undeterred by the unfolding catastrophe that has caught the world's attention.
The country's mountainous trekking routes, including in the Himalayan valley hit by the floodwaters, get a steady stream of visitors, from tourists to Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.
Safal Prakash Shrestha / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Kathmandu is about 80 miles from where the worst destruction happened, but it's where rescue and emergency response efforts are being coordinated, as well as where families are waiting for information about missing relatives.
I have visited the city several times - as a traveler and a trekker, as well as a reporter, covering natural disasters that are not uncommon here.
What is happening now is a reminder of how the picturesque mountains that are a magnet for so many foreign visitors can quickly become the backdrop of such devastation.
12h ago / 1:35 PM EDT
## 'Saved by a mango tree': How a Nepali laborer survived deadly flash flood
Nepali laborer Bibek Kumal was digging a toilet pit outside a newly built house yesterday when a wall of water, mud and rock came roaring down, sweeping him and everything near him away.
Kumal, 24, was working in Bidur, downstream from the worst-hit Rasuwa district, near Nepal's Himalayan border with China's Tibet, when he heard a hissing sound. His four co-workers, standing above the 5-foot-deep pit, shouted at him to get out and run.
By the time he scrambled out of the pit, his co-workers had already fled.
"I started running. Then a wall of water came thundering down as if it was an earthquake," Kumal said from his bed at Kathmandu's National Trauma Centre, his brother Dinesh sitting beside him.