Kathmandu: Nepal witnessed one of its deadliest flood disasters in recent years on Wednesday morning after a sudden flash flood in the Bhotekoshi River swept through three districts, leaving at least 157 people dead and nearly 400 missing. The toll was confirmed by Nepal Police and reported by The Kathmandu Post and CNN, with officials warning the count may rise as rescue teams reach remote settlements along the Nepal-China border.
The disaster struck around mid-morning in Timure area near Rasuwagadhi, the key border crossing with China’s Tibet region. According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), the flood originated in the Lhende tributary of Bhotekoshi. Initial satellite analysis from Planet Labs indicated a glacier-inclusive flood after a massive snow-rock landslide occurred about 20 km northeast of Rasuwagadhi. The landslide and ice avalanche blocked the river, forming a temporary debris lake which later burst.
What made the flood especially deadly was the lack of any warning. Officials at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said there was no rainfall in the area at the time. Residents in Dhading, Rasuwa and Sindhupalchok districts had no time to evacuate as water carrying mud, boulders, logs and debris surged downstream at high speed towards Syaphrubesi and Beni Ghat. Eyewitnesses said homes, vehicles, shops and small hotels along the riverbank were swept away within minutes.
The Prime Minister’s Office in Kathmandu said the number of missing is alarmingly high. At least 391 foreign nationals, most of them believed to be cross-border traders, pilgrims and workers near Rasuwagadhi, and 44 security personnel deployed at border posts have gone missing. Hundreds of local residents are also unaccounted for. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said rescue operations are being hampered by damaged roads and continued unstable slopes in the upper reaches.
Infrastructure damage is extensive. As per a preliminary assessment shared by The Kathmandu Post, nine hydropower projects located along the Bhotekoshi corridor have been destroyed or heavily damaged, cutting power supply in the region. Nine branches of commercial banks, several customs and immigration buildings at Rasuwagadhi, 19 motorable bridges and nearly 40 kilometres of highway, including parts of the Pasang Lhamu Highway, have been washed away. In Dhading’s Beni Ghat, PTI photos showed structures standing half-buried in thick mud.
NDRRMA spokesperson Shanti Mahat said the exact trigger is still being verified. She said information received via the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) from Chinese sources suggests an ice avalanche blocked the Lhende River. The blockage created a lake that burst under pressure. Official confirmation is awaited as teams from Nepal and China are yet to jointly survey the origin point near the Tibetan side. For now, the focus is on search, rescue and relief.
Security forces, including Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police, have been deployed with helicopters and rafts. An AFP photo on Wednesday showed a military helicopter rescuing a young man stranded on a boulder amid raging floodwaters along the Nepal-Tibet border. Relief camps have been set up in Dhunche, Syaphrubesi and Betrawati. Injured persons have been airlifted to Kathmandu and Trishuli hospitals. Many families are still waiting on rooftops for evacuation.
India has responded swiftly with humanitarian assistance. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has mobilised HADR and medical assistance for Nepal. On Wednesday, the Indian Air Force dispatched a C-130J aircraft carrying 10 tonnes of emergency supplies including temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps and essential medicines to Kathmandu. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said it is coordinating with Nepal’s Home Ministry to trace and assist Indian nationals affected by the flood.
Nepal thanked India for the quick support. Officials said additional consignments are being mobilised from Gorakhpur and Patna. Nepal’s Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office to brief about the situation and requested for satellite imagery support and technical assistance to assess glacial lake risks in the northern border area, which has become increasingly vulnerable due to climate change and rapid snowmelt.
Scientists say the Bhotekoshi disaster highlights the growing danger of glacier avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) in the Himalayas. The Bhotekoshi basin has over a dozen glacial lakes on the Tibetan side, many expanding due to global warming. Earlier, a similar flood in 2016 had damaged the same Rasuwagadhi border point. Experts from ICIMOD have repeatedly warned that lack of early warning systems on transboundary rivers leaves downstream Nepal highly exposed.
As of late Wednesday night, search operations were paused in some stretches due to darkness and continued debris flow. NDRRMA said the death toll of 157 is based on bodies recovered so far from Rasuwa, Dhading and Sindhupalchok. With nearly 400 people missing, including foreigners and security personnel, authorities fear this could become one of the worst flood disasters in Nepal’s modern history, surpassing the 2021 Melamchi floods.
Live updates from Kathmandu said major highways remain closed, mobile networks in Rasuwa are down, and fuel shortage is being reported in border villages. The government has urged people living within 500 metres of Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers to move to higher ground and has issued a red alert for possible secondary floods if another debris blockage collapses upstream.
