Nepal Flash Flood latest news updates: 359 dead, 1,000-plus missing amid constant rescue efforts; day two end nears

Nepal Flash Flood LIVE Updates: Rescuers searched through debris-strewn valleys and hillsides in Nepal on Thursday as the scale of a catastrophic flash flood that swept through a mountain corridor connecting Kathmandu with Lhasa remained unclear, with 359 people confirmed dead and more than 1,000 missing in Nepal and neighbouring China.

Authorities deployed helicopters to search for survivors and deliver emergency supplies to thousands of people cut off in towns and valleys after Wednesday's disaster, which sent a wall of ice, mud and rock crashing into a mountain river and swept through a route popular with trekkers and pilgrims.

Also read: Nepal flash floods: List of nationalities of missing tourists


Nepal's disaster management authority warned of another potential flood along the Bhotekoshi river after satellite imagery and preliminary analysis indicated that the river had been blocked and a lake had formed at the site of Wednesday's disaster.

The lake is rising and could burst, the authority said, urging residents and rescuers along the lower banks of the river to move to safer areas away from the waterway.

Nepal's Home Minister Sudhan Gurung said the immediate priority remained finding survivors. Rescue teams had located 100 missing Indian visitors, mostly pilgrims, and 25 Chinese workers in the worst-hit area around Trishuli, he said.

Nearly 550 foreigners were still unaccounted for, while Nepali authorities were yet to establish the number of local people missing.

Villages wiped out, full scale still unclear

The Red Cross said entire villages had been destroyed, while roads and bridges rendered impassable had left communities cut off. It said the full scale of the disaster was still unclear.

"It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us," said Keshav Prasad Baral, a 68-year-old survivor being treated at a Nepali hospital.

"As it got closer, it kept rising higher and higher. When I saw it enter our home, I tried to grab my wife's hand and take her to the terrace. But she was swept away by the mud."

A helicopter took Baral to safety four hours later.

"My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud," he said. "She's gone."

Across the border, 558 people remained missing in Tibet's Gyirong County, including 260 foreign nationals, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. China said its death toll remained at three.

The missing foreigners in Nepal came from more than two dozen countries, including 288 Indians, 63 Americans, 51 Malaysians, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 25 Canadians.

Bodies carried downstream into plains

The destruction extended far beyond the mountain valleys, with floodwaters carrying bodies downstream into Nepal's plains.

Ganesh Aryal, administrator of Chitwan district, said authorities had recovered 103 bodies from the river system in the district, about 100 km from the worst-hit area around Trishuli.

With local hospitals unable to accommodate all the bodies, authorities were setting up tents and making arrangements for families to identify and claim their dead relatives, he said.

China said it was in close communication with Nepal over search-and-rescue operations. Nearly 100 Chinese nationals were in the affected area across the border in Nepal, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the country's No. 2 official, visited the disaster-stricken area in Gyirong on Thursday afternoon, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Gyirong border port is strategically important to China's Belt and Road network linking the country with South Asia. Logistics parks, yards and parking facilities have been built there over the past decade.

Also read: Nepal floods: 37 from Tamil Nadu, 32 from West Bengal, 77 Isha Foundation members among those missing

Verified videos showed torrents of water and debris sweeping away people at a border crossing in Gyirong, while homes, roads and power projects in Nepal were destroyed as the floodwaters surged downstream.

Chinese government geologist Guo Zhaocheng said the ice-avalanche debris flow travelled at about 50 metres per second, giving people little time to react, and extended for more than 20 km.

Guo said a high-altitude ice avalanche triggered the debris flow, which picked up glacial moraine as it moved down a channel before becoming a mudslide that hit port facilities and areas on both sides of the China-Nepal border.

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah travelled by road to assess the flood situation in Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected districts, his office said on social media.

The disaster is a major test for Shah's five-month-old government, although officials said Nepal had systems and personnel experienced in responding to large-scale disasters, including the 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people.

A recurring Himalayan danger

The Lhende Khola river system has flooded twice in 14 months. Last year, a glacial lake in Tibet overflowed after high temperatures, killing nine people and damaging critical infrastructure, including a bridge connecting Nepal and China.

“The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in 14 months, this time triggered by an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side that blocked the river and released a sudden surge downstream,” said Saswata Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist.

He stressed the importance of early-warning systems in “a warming Himalaya”.

Researchers have found that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting faster, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000. Experts warn that rising temperatures, intense monsoons and unstable ice formations could make similar disasters more frequent across South Asia.

MEA's response on flood situation

MEA briefed reporters on the Nepal-China border flash floods, saying 200 Indian nationals are stranded in Tibet after the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, 288 remain uncontactable (including Trishuli-1 project workers, pilgrims from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and members of the Isha Foundation), and 21 from Tamil Nadu have been rescued so far.

As many as 285 Indian nationals remain uncontactable following the devastating floods in Nepal, according to an update issued at 1845 hrs on Thursday.

A total of 54 Indians have been rescued so far, including 33 workers of the Trishuli-I project and 21 people from Tamil Nadu.

India is sending relief supplies at Nepal's request and has pledged continued support. The disaster, triggered by a Himalayan glacial collapse on Wednesday, has killed 270 people with over 1,200 still missing across Nepal and Tibet, and Bihar and UP have been placed on flood alert as a precaution.

India sends second consignment of 37.5 tonnes of aid to Nepal

India has handed over its second consignment of 37.5 tonnes of humanitarian assistance, including HADR material, medicines and food packets, to Nepal to support flood relief and rescue operations.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the aid was handed over to Nepal’s Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Mahabir Pun, reaffirming India’s commitment to supporting Nepal and its people.

New threat from dammed lake

Authorities were also racing to assess the danger posed by a lake formed after the river was blocked.

Early reports from Nepal suggested an earthquake may have caused the lower portion of a glacier to collapse and trigger the floods. The U.S. Geological Survey later said an earthquake initially reported at magnitude 4.4 was actually seismic energy generated by the collapse of glacial rock and ice, followed by a debris flow.

Chinese authorities have identified the cause as a high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal.

"A high-altitude glacier collapse in Nepal," Xinhua reported in its description of the cause of the Gyirong mudslide.

The dammed lake upstream from the mudslide and flood-hit Tibet-Nepal border crossing could further complicate rescue operations, particularly as more rain is forecast.

The lake was estimated to contain 2 million cubic metres of water on Thursday morning and was already overflowing, Chinese state media reported, citing the country's water resources ministry.

Another 3 million cubic metres of water — equivalent to roughly 1,200 Olympic-size swimming pools — is expected to flow into the lake over the next three days, creating a high risk of a breach. Peak flow is expected around September 1, state media said.

India places Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on alert

India has placed Bihar and Uttar Pradesh on alert for possible flash flooding. About 5,000 people were evacuated in Bihar after flood warnings were issued, according to the earlier AP report.

India is also coordinating with Nepal on rescue and relief efforts, amid reports that 133 Indian pilgrims travelling to Mount Kailash were among those missing.

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said at least 34 Australians involved in pilgrimage and hiking groups remained unaccounted for.

“We understand these Australians were part of separate pilgrimage and tour groups,” Wong said.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said 55 Malaysians in Kathmandu were unreachable because severe infrastructure damage had disrupted communication. It said there was no official confirmation of Malaysian casualties.

Pilgrims among those caught in disaster

Many of those caught in the disaster were pilgrims travelling towards Kailash Mansarovar, a high-altitude site in Tibet revered by Hindus and Buddhists.

Mount Kailash, which Hindus believe to be the home of Lord Shiva and which lies near Lake Mansarovar, is also sacred to several other faiths.

Sagar Pandey, chief executive of a Himalayan tourism operator, flew over the disaster zone in a helicopter and described the destruction as almost total.

"There are no human-made things, no human settlement left. Everything is just flat," Pandey told Reuters. "So anyone in the hotel, the restaurant, or the car, I believe that everybody is gone."

Around the world, families continued to wait anxiously for news of missing relatives.

Vasanthi Muniandy, whose sister Vennila was travelling with a Hindu pilgrimage group from Malaysia, said she last heard from her after Vennila had crossed into Tibet from Nepal.

"I am totally broken. My sister is very important to me," Vasanthi said. "I really want her to come back. I don’t have anyone but her. I just want her to come back home. I want her to be safe."

Foreign nationals affected

Nepalese tourism officials earlier said 133 Indians travelling on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash were missing. The list also included 47 Americans, 34 Australians, 33 Britons and 24 Canadians.

The US State Department said it was working with local authorities to assist affected Americans and providing $500,000 in emergency funding, according to the Bloomberg report.

Australia said it was coordinating with Nepal, the United Nations, the Red Cross and other organisations on a humanitarian response.

The Himalayan range contains some of the world’s largest remaining glaciers and supplies water to millions of people. Its steep valleys are also vital transport and economic corridors but remain highly vulnerable to flash floods, landslides and glacial lake outbursts.

The latest disaster has renewed concerns over the safety of communities and infrastructure across a rapidly warming Himalayan region.