A 30-MILE TORRENT OF DESTRUCTION..! – UNSTOPPABLE FLOODS TRIGGERED BY A MASSIVE 2,000FT CHUNK OF FALLING GLACIER DEVASTATE NEPAL AS HUNDREDS OF TOURISTS, INCLUDING 33 BRITS, ARE REPORTED MISSING.
More than 300 tourists, including 33 Britons and 54 Americans, are missing after devastating flash floods wiped out buildings and bridges along the Nepal-Tibet border.
Experts believe a colossal glacier snapped, sending a 2,000ft chunk smashing ‘like a bomb’ into the valley more than a kilometre below, and triggering the catastrophic floods.
Entire buildings and roads were swept away when a 30-mile torrent stormed down two rivers in the Rasuwa district of Nepal, north of Kathmandu, leaving a path of near total destruction in its wake.
The area is popular with tourists who flock to the Himalayas for hiking, and the valley is littered with small villages and infrastructure projects.
Terrifying footage shows a tsunami wave of mud crashing through towns in Rasuwa, sweeping away everything in its path.
At least 157 people have been confirmed dead in Nepal, while at least 403 are missing – 341 of whom are tourists.
The missing include 133 people from India who were on a pilgrimage, 34 Australians, 24 Canadians and eight South Koreans – alongside the Britons and Americans.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the Government would do ‘everything we can’ to support Britons caught up in the floods.
Meanwhile, China reported three people had been killed in Gyirong, Tibet, with 265 people still missing.
A clip showed the Gyirong port land crossing being annihilated by the flood. Dozens of people were seen running away in terror seconds before the water and mud crashed into the structure and wiped it out.
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CCTV footage shows people running away as wall of mud and water destroys buildings in a valley at the Nepal-China border in Gyirong
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One clip showed the Chinese-owned Gyirong port land crossing being annihilated by the flood
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Several people have been killed by the flash floods, with many more casualties expected to be reported
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Hundreds of people are missing following the deadly floods in Nepal, which swept away large pieces of infrastructure
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Houses lie partially submerged in muddy water along a riverside after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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Scientists initially believed an earthquake triggered the ice avalanche, but the seismic reading was later clarified to have been caused by a landslide.
Dr Daniel Shugar, an earth scientist and professor at the University of Calgary, said the disturbance caused a 2,000ft-wide chunk of ice to break clean off and fall more than a kilometre to the valley floor.
‘The bottom looks like a bomb exploded – it’s just deposits from the broken-up glacier,’ he told The New York Times.
But the ice fall alone doesn’t explain the ‘gargantuan volumes of water that we see in these, these absolutely horrific videos’, he said.
It is believed the glacier became mixed with a landslide to create a rapidly moving mixture of water, ice and rock.
There were fears that a second flood may send Nepal, Tibet and neighbouring India into further chaos.
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Terrifying footage of Nepal’s flash flood tsunami as water obliterates all in its path
Nepal’s tourism board said the 133 missing from India were on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus.
Alpine Eco Trek, which offers guided tours and expeditions in Nepal, confirmed that 12 British nationals on its tour across the Nepal-Tibet border were missing – including a 13-year-old girl.
Ram Kumar Adhikari, the firm’s manager, said two Irish nationals and four South African nationals were also missing.
The ages of the Britons missing from the trip range from 13 to 65, according to travel logs.
Meanwhile, Nepali labourer Bibek Kumal was digging a toilet pit outside a new house on Wednesday when a wall of water, mud and rock came roaring down, sweeping him and everything near him away.
Mr Kumal, 24, was downstream from the worst-hit Rasuwa district, near the Tibet border, when he heard a hissing sound.
His four co-workers, standing above the five-foot pit, shouted at him to get out and run, and had already fled by the time he scrambled out.
‘I started running. Then a wall of water came thundering down as if it was an earthquake,’ Mr Kumal said from his bed at Kathmandu’s National Trauma Centre.
The torrent swept him downstream amid mud and debris, but he ‘luckily was stuck up in a mango tree’. He added: ‘Had there been no mango tree, I would have been washed away to death.’
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A collection of houses on the banks of the Trishuli River, where some of the buildings were washed away
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The water carved a scar down the valley, leaving a trail of near-total destruction
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A combination of satellite images shows Syapru Besi, Nepal, on August 23, 2026, before a flash flood (top) and on August 26, 2026, following a flash flood (bottom)
Keshav Prasad Baral, 68, being treated at a local hospital said: ‘It was a huge gush of mud coming straight towards us. 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.
‘Four or five hours later, a helicopter came to rescue me. My wife is still somewhere beneath the mud. She’s gone.’
Mr Burnham said: ‘These scenes emerging from along the Nepal-China border are devastating.
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A settlement destroyed in seconds: Video shows floodwater bulldoze buildings in Nepal as people flee
‘My thoughts are with all those affected, including the families and loved ones of British nationals missing in this tragedy.
‘We will do everything we can to support British nationals impacted in the region and are in touch with the relevant authorities to offer support.
‘I urge British nationals in the region to follow guidance from the local authorities and follow our travel advice.’
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘I am deeply concerned to hear of the flash floods on the Nepal-China border.
‘All my thoughts are with those affected and with British nationals in the area and their relatives here at home.’
The UK’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Baroness Winterton said following the disaster: ‘Heartbreaking to see the loss and damage caused by the Rasuwa flood in Nepal.
‘Sending our thoughts to all those affected by the disaster. We are working closely with the Nepalese authorities following concerning reports of British nationals who are missing.
‘We encourage British nationals in Nepal to follow guidance from the local authorities and remain alert to the changing situation.’
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The aftermath of massive flash floods and mudslides near the Nepal-China border in Nepal
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Authorities have so far found the bodies of 31 people following the natural disaster
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A house lies deluged in sludge after flash floods at Devghat in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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A survivor is airlifted following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
Scientists are blaming an ice avalanche for sending the torrent of water crashing down the valley.
Initial reports from Nepal had suggested that an earthquake may have triggered the ice avalanche.
But the US Geological Survey, which studies earthquakes, has now said that further analysis indicates ‘that the seismic energy was instead generated by a landslide’.
Simon Cook, a glaciologist at the University of Dundee, said: ‘This is a big chunk of ice that is stored at high elevation in the mountain.
When it broke off, he explained, the force ‘pulverised’ the ice into water, creating a fast-flowing torrent.
Landslides can have various triggers. One possibility is that water – either from rainfall or melting ice – may have destabilised the ground or ice.
Unlike traditional snow avalanches, falling ice behaves similarly to a destructive rockfall due to its massive density and weight, often triggering severe flash floods.
‘It’s confirmed that a substantial portion of that glacier snout collapsed to initiate the event – probably including or entraining a fair amount of rock and sediment,’ said Vikram Gupta, who specialises in engineering geology and teaches at India’s Sikkim University.
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An injured man is rushed to a hospital for treatment following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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A survivor is transported to a safer place in a JCB following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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Police officers carry a survivor to a safer place following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
Dr Shugar, an associate professor at the University of Calgary, said the imagery seemed to show that a large amount of snow had melted in the 24 hours prior to the disaster.
‘Some of the glaciers in the valley were covered in snow yesterday and today they are mostly bare ice. So in other words (and I haven’t seen any weather station data yet), it was probably warm,’ he said.
Nepal’s snow-capped mountains had lost close to one-third of their ice in just over 30 years due to global warming, the United Nations said in 2023.
The agency added that year that glaciers in Nepal, wedged between two major carbon emitters – India and China, melted 65 per cent faster in the last decade than in the previous one.
‘What I can see in this morning’s satellite imagery from Planet Labs, the lower part of a glacier broke off at about 5,200 metres and crashed onto the valley floor about 1,200 metres below,’ Dr Shugar said.
He said construction could be a factor too and ‘whether climate change played a role is something we will no doubt be looking into in the near future’.
Qianggong Zhang, head of climate and environmental risks at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, warned the region may come under threat again.
He said: ‘With a blockage still lodged upstream on the Nepal-China border river, authorities warn a second flood may occur.’
Search operations are currently under way on both sides of the border between Tibet and Nepal. At the Gyirong port, authorities have deployed nearly 600 rescuers.
But a rescuer told Chinese media that it would take at least four hours for the team to reach the site due to the five-foot deep sediment that blocked pathways leading to the affected area.
The debris had surged upstream from the Nepalese side of the crossing, the rescuer said.
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A boy looks at the devastation caused by flash flooding along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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A victim of a flash flooding recovers in a hospital in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
Chen Xi, of the Gyirong Border Defense Company of Tibet’s Shigatse Military sub-command, told Chinese media: ‘Right now, the various loaders and excavators are being used to clear a path.’
He said there was a significant risk of further disaster: ‘The mountain slopes around us could collapse at any time, because the road runs along steep cliffs, and… there may also be a risk of another mudslide.’
The port normally sees hundreds of millions of dollars of goods flow through every year, accounting for around a third of all of China’s trade with Nepal.
Last year, floods swept away the bridge connecting it to Nepal’s Rasuwa port, leaving trade through the port suspended for six months.
A pilot told CNN he saw the flood from the air and witnessed waves that were up to 20ft tall.
Aman Budathoki said: ‘About five minutes before landing, we could see dust rising from the river.
‘At first instance it looked as if it was a landslide. We even guessed if it was the army using explosives for building roads.’
The Nepal Army said 14 helicopters and disaster response teams have been deployed for rescue and relief.
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The aftermath of flash flood and mudslides on the Nepal-China border on August 26, 2026, in Nuwakot, Nepal
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An injured man at a hospital for treatment following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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A combination of satellite images shows the valleys near the Nepal-China border on August 25, 2026, before the devastating floods (top), and on August 26, 2026, after the disaster (bottom)
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A vehicle is covered with mud following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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Houses lie partially submerged in muddy water along a riverside after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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Damaged houses and vehicles are seen in the aftermath of flash floods along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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People watch floodwaters sweeping through Trishuli Bazar following a flash flood in Nuwakot district
But officials said the waters were too high for helicopters to land in Nepal’s affected areas of Syapru Besi and Timure in the mountainous district of Rasuwa, with a population of about 50,000.
Nepal’s rescue helicopters would be unable to land in the affected areas until the waters recede, however, army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said.
Around 60 houses in the Trishuli Bazar area were swept away, while the nearby Devighat was also badly affected. Two bridges over the nearby Trishuli River were also washed away.
Nepali media reported that 60 employees of an under-construction hydropower project are missing following the floods.
Staff working at the Langtang Khola Hydroelectric Project in Rasuwa have not been accounted for.
Local media reported that workers were ‘carrying out concrete construction work inside a tunnel’, adding: ‘The flood caused severe damage to the project.’
Rasuwa is home to several hydropower plants. Nepal’s energy ministry said 430 MW of electricity supplies were affected, mostly from hydroelectric projects, or more than 12 per cent of total national hydropower capacity of 3.2 GW, a Reuters calculation showed.
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Search and rescue operation continue after flash flood and mudslides on the Nepal-China border in Nuwakot, Nepal
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An entire settlement was destroyed in seconds by the flood
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One man who saw the floods said he saw waves go up as high as 20ft in the air
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Nepal’s foreign minister said initial reports indicated that an earthquake caused an avalanche which triggered the flooding
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An aerial view of damaged homes in Trishuli Bazar following a flash flood in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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Houses lie partially submerged in muddy water along a riverside after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
The mudslide on the Nepali side hit China’s Gyirong port, cutting off roads, communications and power in the Shigatse region near the border with Nepal.
‘I witnessed the flood sweep away eight or nine trucks, along with houses and people,’ Suman Chalise, a 34-year-old teacher, told AFP in Nuwakot district.
‘It was absolutely heart-wrenching. I had not witnessed such devastation before.’
One Chinese businessman told the BBC that his logistics firm has seven container trucks in the area of the flash flood, which are all staffed by Nepalese employees.
Yee Liang told the broadcaster: ‘We have lost contact with all of them. There is no signal, so we cannot reach anyone.’
He said that, as far as he’s aware, there was no warning prior to the disaster.
Yee Liang said: ‘There were occasional mudslides and landslides, especially in the rainy season, but this one seems much more serious.’
President Xi Jinping urged ‘all-out’ search efforts for the missing as well as stronger monitoring and early warning systems to prevent secondary disasters.
The Prime Minister of Nepal, Balen Shah, the Gen-Z who took office earlier this year, urged the people of his country to come together following the floods.
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The aftermath of flash flood and mudslides on the Nepal-China border in Nuwakot, Nepal
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Houses lie partially submerged in muddy water along a riverside after flash floods at Trishuli Bazar in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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Officials admitted there could be ‘heavy casualties’ as a result of the flash floods
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Initial reports said an earthquake triggered an avalanche, which led to the flooding
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Entire bridges and buildings were decimated by the flooding
He wrote on social media: ‘The pain and loss you have suffered is not small. But I want to assure you that you are not alone in this difficult time – the state is with you with all its means and resources.
‘Please be patient. The Government takes full responsibility for your rescue, treatment, food and shelter. In times of such a disaster, we all need to stand together.’
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said New Delhi was ready to provide all possible humanitarian assistance and teams from the two countries were coordinating closely on rescue and relief efforts.
‘Instructions have been given… to move the people living in the lower areas to safer places,’ he said. ‘People along the river are advised to exercise extra caution and remain alert.’
The Red Cross said this morning that it had activated emergency response teams, mobilised volunteers and was deploying an emergency team with relief supplies in response to the natural disaster.
The Lhende Khola River, a tributary of the Bhotekoshi River, witnessed maximum flooding on Wednesday, experts at the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said.
‘The Lhende Khola has flooded twice in fourteen 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 at the climate research group.
‘In a warming Himalaya, early warning is the first line of adaptation,’ he added.
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Damaged houses stand precariously near the swollen, debris-choked banks of the Trishuli River after flash floods in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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A survivor is transported to a safer place in a JCB following a flash flood at Trishuli in Nuwakot district, Nepal
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People wait for news of their relatives who are missing after flash flooding along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
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A woman consoles a relative as they wait for news of family members missing after flash flooding along the Trishuli River in Nepal’s Nuwakot district
From its origins in Tibet, the Bhote Koshi river empties into Nepal’s Trishuli river that eventually flows into India as the Gandak river.
A deadly flash flood on the same river last year – which was eventually traced to the draining of a glacier lake – killed nine people, with 24 missing, as it washed away a ‘Friendship Bridge’ linking Nepal and China to disrupt trade and transport for months.
The Himalayan region, which crosses Nepal and several nearby countries including India, is especially vulnerable to heavy rains, floods and landslides because the area is warming up faster than the rest of the world due to human-caused climate change.
Research has shown that extreme weather events including heat waves, heavy rains and melting glaciers have become more frequent in the region.
Researchers at the Kathmandu research group found earlier this year that glaciers across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are melting at an accelerating rate, with ice loss rates doubling since 2000 primarily due to rising global temperatures and climate change.
