Nearly 1,500 people, including at least 800 foreign nationals, are missing after devastating floods and landslides struck Nepal and China’s Tibet region on Wednesday, authorities said. The disaster occurred after a massive section of earth and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, inundating towns and valleys. Reuters reported.
Rescuers on Thursday used helicopters to search for survivors and deliver emergency supplies to thousands stranded in remote areas. The affected mountainous region is a major route for tourists and pilgrims travelling between Lhasa in Tibet and Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
Nepal Police said the death toll could exceed 165. Police spokesperson Abinarayan Kafle told Reuters: “The search has resumed. The death toll will rise as more bodies are likely to be recovered.”
Police and tourism officials said about 600 of the 826 people missing in Nepal were foreign nationals. The missing tourists are from more than two dozen countries, including 177 Indians, 63 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported that 558 people were missing in Gyirong County in Tibet, including 260 foreign nationals.
Verified footage showed a huge torrent of water, mud and debris sweeping away people at a border crossing in Gyirong. Floodwaters later destroyed houses, roads and power projects on the Nepal side of the border.
Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, who survived the floods and is being treated in hospital, said a massive wall of mud was moving directly towards them. “It kept getting higher as it came closer,” he said.
Baral said he tried to take his wife to the roof while holding her hand after mud entered their home, but she was swept away by the torrent. A helicopter evacuated him to safety four hours later.
“My wife is still somewhere under the mud. She is gone,” Baral said.
Another survivor said he saved himself by clinging to a mango tree as the house where he had been working was completely destroyed before his eyes.
Helicopters are delivering tents, food and other emergency supplies to the worst-affected districts. Nepal Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said neighbouring India was providing the relief materials.
More than 5,000 army and police personnel have been deployed for search and rescue operations, with teams searching for survivors and recovering bodies.
Nepalese officials initially believed an earthquake may have caused part of a glacier to collapse, triggering the flooding. However, the United States Geological Survey said tremors first identified as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake were actually seismic energy generated by the collapse of glacier rock and ice, which was followed by a debris flow.
Chinese authorities said a new risk had emerged after water became trapped in a lake in the Gyirong area of Tibet. The lake is upstream from the Tibet-Nepal border crossing damaged by the landslides and floods.
CCTV reported that rescue efforts could become more difficult if pressure builds up or water suddenly bursts from the lake.
Many of those missing were taking part in the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. The high-altitude Tibetan site is sacred to followers of Hinduism, Buddhism and other faiths. Hindus believe Mount Kailash is the abode of Lord Shiva, while nearby Lake Manasarovar is also considered sacred by followers of several religions.
The United States State Department said it was sending a disaster response adviser to Nepal and providing $500,000 in assistance.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on social media platform X that his government was closely monitoring the situation, describing the floods as “absolutely devastating”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UN teams and partner organisations were sending relief supplies and personnel to assist affected communities in Nepal.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said detailed information about the disaster remained limited. “Nepal is a developing country. It does not have the kind of resources that Australia has to respond to such a disaster, so obtaining information has become difficult,” he said.
Sagar Pandey, chief executive of a Himalayan tourism company, said 15 Indian-Australian nationals travelling with his organisation on the pilgrimage were missing.
After surveying the affected area by helicopter, Pandey told Reuters: “There is nothing man-made left, no settlements. Everything has been flattened.”
“Therefore, I believe everyone who was in hotels, restaurants or vehicles has died,” he added.
Rescue operations have been intensified, but difficult terrain, debris, damaged roads and the risk from trapped upstream water continue to pose severe challenges. Authorities fear the numbers of dead and missing could rise further.
