Rescue teams are rushing to find hundreds of people still missing after flash floods near Nepal’s border with China.
Survivors recount moment flash floods hit Nepal
The pilgrims from across the world are among the hundreds missing, India’s Hindu spiritual leader Sadhguru says in an emotional video message from Tibet on his social media accounts, with several million followers.
The guru, whose real name is Jagdish Vasudev, said 77 pilgrims were at the Nepal-China border immigration office when the floods hit. He also posted a video from the Chinese side of the frontier, when a wall of mud and debris crashed over the border building.
The pilgrims were part of several Hindu groups organised by Isha Foundation of Sadhguru, who had been visiting the snow-capped Mount Kailash in Tibet, sacred also to Tibetan Buddhists.
“Literally, the entire group was there in the building, this is a terrible and extraordinary event,” he said, as anguished wails from other pilgrims with him are heard over the video.
“All phones are off, telecommunications are down, roads are blocked, we are unable to go there,” he said. “The same building where we were for the immigration just a week ago, that entire building is washed away, and part of the town is washed away.”
The pilgrimage to Kailash and Lake Mansarovar is organised annually by India’s foreign ministry with Chinese authorities. It restarted in 2025 for Indians for the first time since the 2020 border clash.
The disaster struck the mountainous Nepal-Tibet border region, with some of the worst damage in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, immediately south of the Chinese border.
The initial surge entered the Lhende Khola, which feeds into the Bhote Koshi and then the Trishuli River, carrying floodwaters south through Nepal. Water levels in the Trishuli reportedly rose by as much as 9 metres (27 ft) in just 30 minutes.
In the Rasuwa district, Timure and Syapru Besi were among the affected settlements. Further downstream, flooding reached parts of Nepal’s Nuwakot and Dhading districts, damaging homes, roads and other infrastructure.
Across the border in Tibet, mud and debris hit Gyirong Port in the Shigatse region.
The Trishuli eventually joins the Narayani River, which crosses into India’s Bihar state, where it is known as the Gandak River.
Reporting from Kathamandu, Nepal
I am outside a government hospital where some of the injured are being treated. Behind me, a help desk has been set up by the authorities for people to submit the names of their loved and dear ones who have not been in touch with them and are from that area.
So far, 26 people have been admitted to this hospital, six in the intensive care unit. One person has died and the rest are being treated for injuries such as muscular injuries, broken ribs, skin trauma, blunt injury trauma, which the doctors say is probably because of the force of the water and the floods that they were trying to escape.
Doctors are trying to create a designated space for more people who they feel will be airlifted and brought in Kathmandu for treatment.
Some 2,000 army personnel have been deployed and in addition, forces from the Nepal police and other security agencies have all joined together to expedite the relief and rescue work.
An all-party meeting also took place early this morning with an agreement that all the political parties should work together to expedite relief and rescue. Nepal’s Prime Minister, Balendra Shah, is on his way or has probably reached the affected area to assess damage.
The Buddhist spiritual leader says he is praying for all those killed in the devastating floods.
“I pray for all those who have lost their lives, and offer my sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the bereaved and to all those affected by this tragedy,” the 91-year-old leader said in a statement.
The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India, is a campaigner for greater autonomy for his Tibetan homeland, which Beijing says is an integral part of China.
“Since this region has seen calamities in the past as well, these are certainly symptoms of a deeper underlying cause – whether climate change or other factors,” he added.
“I hope that appropriate follow-up measures will be taken, wherever possible, to help ensure that such disasters do not recur.”
India is evacuating people from states bordering Nepal, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, local media report.
In Bihar, authorities evacuated thousands and have kept the disaster response force on standby, the Indian Express reports. In Uttar Pradesh, the border districts of Maharajganj and Kushinagar have been put on alert, the newspaper said.
Officials in the states are anticipating a rise in water levels due to Nepal’s flood in the Gandak River basin, the Indian Express report said, referring to a transboundary Himalayan river basin spanning China, Nepal, and India.
Countries and organisations around the world have begun sending cash, relief supplies and other assistance to Nepal as it responds to the aftermath of the devastating flash flood that has so far killed more than 160 people and left hundreds missing.
Here is a list of aid and assistance announced as well as delivered:
On Wednesday, part of a glacier collapsed high in the Himalayas, triggering catastrophic flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border.
At least 160 people are confirmed dead, while nearly 1,500 are missing in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, including at least 800 foreigners.
In Nepal, 826 people are missing, including almost 600 foreigners, according to police and tourism officials. Across the border, Chinese state media reported that 558 are missing in Tibet’s Gyirong County, including 260 foreign nationals.
Here is what we know about what triggered the disaster, where the floods struck, and the risks facing the warming Himalayan region.
Footage filmed by a worker shows floodwaters sweeping into Mailung in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, sending workers scrambling for safety.
The worker was later rescued by helicopter, alongside more than 100 others, after floods damaged roads and bridges.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the devastating Himalayan floods in Nepal and China’s autonomous Tibet region.
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