A catastrophic flash flood on Wednesday morning wreaked massive destruction upon Nepal’s northern mountainous region, bordering China. The torrent of water, rock, and mud wiped out entire villages, washed away roads and destroyed power infrastructure and dams.
Thousands of people are missing, Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has said, among them pilgrims to Mansarovar in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. “Town after town has been wiped out within hours,” he said. Nearly 400 of the 579 tourists missing are Indians.
Nepal’s army has pressed in helicopters to rescue people trapped in mud and in buildings that survived the deluge, and deliver emergency supplies. More than 100 people have been rescued so far, including foreigners.
In China, where the border customs post at Gyirong Port was wiped out by the rushing water and rocks, 558 people are missing – 260 of them foreigners. However, rescue efforts are hindered because of the lack of road connectivity and the thick mud covering the area.
27 August 2026
More than 300 Indians are among those reported missing, Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal told RT India’s Vinayak Dixit. Most were pilgrims to Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet.
A 77-member group of pilgrims, which include both Indians and foreigners, from the Isha Foundation in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore is missing after they were reportedly caught in the floods at an immigration center. The foundation is a global non-profit led by the religious leader Sadhguru.
More than 70 Indians working for the Trishuli hydropower project are also missing, the Indian Foreign Ministry said.
Nepal and China have stepped up rescue operations as they race against time to save as many people from Wednesday's cataclysmic floods.
Nearly 100 Chinese nationals remain missing in Nepal, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian said, adding that the Chinese Embassy is seeking further information on them. He said the two sides are in close communication and coordinating the search and rescue. China has offered assistance to Nepal.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived at Gyirong township in the Xizang autonomous region, where rescue operations are ongoing, on Thursday afternoon. He has been tasked by President Xi Jinping to lead a group of senior officials to supervise the rescue and relief operations.
RT India reports from the flood affected areas in Nepal. Local correspondent Darshan Parajuli has witnessed first-hand the destruction of villages and the ongoing rescue efforts in Nuwakot district.
RT India also spoke to Hemraj Aryal, the spokesman for the Nepalese Prime Minister’s Office. According to him, rehabilitation is the major concern for the Nepalese government as people have lost their homes. “The main thing is revitalizing and re-engaging the people in the society.”
Aryal said that while rescue teams have reached most of the sites where people need help, reconnecting the roads will take time as the scale of devastation is huge.
China has warned that a large lake formed by a landslide in Nepal is at risk of breaching, which could pose a danger to the ongoing rescue operations. The lake is overflowing and about 3 million cubic meters of water is expected to enter it over the next three days, China’s Ministry of Water Resources said.
The danger has not passed for those in the affected areas of Nepal, the director of the Center for Disaster Studies at Tribhuvan University in Nepal, Basanta Raj Adhikari, told the BBC. He warned of the risk of “second and third waves” on Thursday or Friday.
“There isn’t high rainfall, but [a] landslide might happen,” he said, adding that he continues to discuss the situation with experts in China who are monitoring the situation.
Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah has traveled to the Nuwakot district to inspect areas affected by the devastating floods and meet people injured in the disaster.
The prime minister is assessing the extent of physical damage and meeting local officials, security personnel, and elected representatives to discuss ongoing rescue and relief efforts, rehabilitation, and the restoration of damaged infrastructure, according to local media.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Food Safety of Nepal has designated officers for the main areas of disaster response to strengthen emergency health coordination, medical deployment, and disease surveillance.