LAST UPDATE | 21 mins ago

RESCUE TEAMS ARE searching for more than 1,300 people missing on the Nepal-Tibet border after devastating flash floods and landslides killed at least 180 people and swept away entire villages.

Officials said the sudden torrent was likely caused by a flood involving a glacier and resulting landslide. The tsunami-like rumble of water and mud struck villages and towns on the path of two rivers – Bhote Koshi and Trishuli.

Nepali police have recovered 177 bodies. The country’s disaster agency said some 823 people remain out of contact.

Among those are 517 foreign tourists, including two Irish nationals who are believed missing in the Rasuwa region, where they had been on an excursion. 

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet confirmed if any Irish people are among those killed by the flooding, though a spokesperson said they are “closely monitoring the situation”.

“The Department, including the Embassy of Ireland to India which covers Nepal, will provide consular assistance to impacted Irish citizens and their families.”

While Ireland does not have a full embassy in Nepal, Irish citizens requiring assistance can contact the Embassy of Ireland in India at +9111 4940 3200.

विपद प्रतिकार्यमा नेपाल प्रहरी pic.twitter.com/xqa4GcSRnO

— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) August 26, 2026

Tour operator Alpine Eco Trek said a 13-year-old girl was among 12 missing British nationals. The firm, which offers guided tours and expeditions in Nepal, confirmed four of its Nepalese tour guides are missing as well.

Sunil Sharma, a tourism board spokesman, said 133 of those missing were from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet – a sacred site for Hindus.

Also among the missing were 47 people from the US, 34 from Australia, and 24 from Canada, he added.

In China, state media said the “mudslide disaster” at the Gyirong Port in Tibet killed three people, while 558 people, including 260 foreigners, are missing.

Raju Bhadel, a businessman in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, recounted receiving a call from his brother-in-law in distress.

SCENES THAT LEAVE YOU COLD
Chinese government immigration office at Rasuwagadhi border crossing in CHINESE OCCUPIED TIBET swept away.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered all-out efforts to search and rescue people who are missing after the "mudslide" in China controlled… pic.twitter.com/EiXvyVtqBo

— Rahul Shivshankar (@RShivshankar) August 26, 2026

“They were crying and said their entire house had been swept away. Three family members were rescued, but his brother is still missing,” he said.

Also at Nuwakot, teacher Manok Mishra witnessed “nine trucks being swept away by the floods including people”.

‘Inland tsunami’ 

Rescuers waded through mud and sludge to look for survivors after floodwaters buried the lower floors of multi-storey buildings.

Among those hunting for their missing family members was Subash Khatani, who told AFP he was looking for his big brother.

“He is among the missing from Rasuwa. That’s why we are out to search for him,” he said.

A vehicle is seen in the aftermath of a flash floods in Devighat in the Nuwakot district in Nepal. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The sudden rush of mud and debris was “like an inland tsunami, travelling nearly 170 kilometres down the Bhote Koshi valley into Central Nepal”, said environmental historian Ruth Gamble of La Trobe University in Australia.

“It is a popular route for international tourists travelling from Kathmandu to Lhasa,” she added.

Rasuwa, in the north of Nepal, was the first district to be affected. But deaths have been reported from seven Nepali districts in total as the flood waters raged through to Chitwan in the south, on the border with India.

The Nepali Army was carrying out flights and had rescued scores of people, while others living near the river in danger zones had been told to relocate.

China’s leader Xi Jinping said that “the most urgent task is doing everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people”, according to CCTV.

Tibet government officials mobilised nearly 800 emergency workers and 150 vehicles as well as sniffer dogs and speed boats to help the rescue efforts, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it was dispatching emergency supplies including blankets, first aid kits, stretchers and body bags.

Glacial collapse

The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear in the hours after it occurred early Wednesday, but the US Geological Survey said it was a glacial collapse that caused seismic activity and the “catastrophic” downstream impacts in Nepal and Tibet.

An aftermath view of flash floods and mudslides along the Trishuli River. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake,” it said.

“Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred.”

Climate change is causing glaciers to melt worldwide, increasing the risks of glacial lake floods and glacial collapses.

Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), warned of the potential for a second flood.

“With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur,” he told AFP

Many trekking companies were not running tours during the monsoon season, but there remains significant numbers of travellers including pilgrims in the region.

Among sites hit by the flood was Syabrubesi, the gateway to the popular trekking areas, as well as by pilgrims travelling to the base of the Mount Kailash, a holy site for Buddhists and Hindus.

Traffic authorities in Tibet’s Shigatse said roads in the area were “at risk of mudslides and unsafe for passage”.

With reporting from © AFP 2026