Deadly Himalayan Floods: 3,000 Missing, 633 Dead in Nepal and China

Nepal and China Search for Nearly 3,000 Missing After Himalayan Floods

KATHMANDU and BEIJING — Rescue teams in Nepal and China are continuing urgent operations to find nearly 3,000 people missing after a catastrophic flood tore through the Himalayan region on Wednesday. Officials report 633 confirmed deaths and warn the toll may rise as search conditions remain treacherous due to unstable terrain and ongoing flood risks.

Emergency responders, including military and paramilitary units, are battling to locate survivors in remote mountain valleys where entire villages were swept away by a wall of water, ice, and debris. The disaster, triggered by a glacial lake outburst or landslide dam failure, has affected an estimated 93,000 people across both countries.

In Nepal, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said the death toll reached 626 on Saturday. Over 2,400 individuals, including hundreds of foreign trekkers and pilgrims, are unaccounted for. Many were heading toward Mount Kailash in Tibet, a major Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site, when roads collapsed and rivers burst their banks.

On the Chinese side, state media reported seven deaths and 554 missing in Gyirong County, a key border crossing in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Authorities confirmed they had evacuated 555 international tourists and 499 Chinese residents from the worst-hit areas.

Survivors describe scenes of total devastation, with homes, roads, and infrastructure destroyed. Buddhi Dangol, a local resident, told reporters, “All the settlements near the river were swept away. There is nothing left.” Another survivor, Samjhana Thing, said she had waited three days for news of her missing brother. “We don’t know anything. Hopefully he is in a safe place,” she said.

The disaster has compounded “enormous” trauma across the region, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Food and clean water are running low, and fears of secondary flooding persist after massive ice and mudslides dammed several rivers. In a precautionary move, Nepali police warned rescuers to evacuate after reports that a glacial dam had burst again on the Tibetan side.

China suspended operations in Gyirong due to the immediate flood risk, but later resumed limited rescues after the threat eased. State news agency Xinhua reported two villagers were rescued Saturday morning.

Nepal’s military reported rescuing 350 people trapped inside tunnels at the Trishuli 3A hydropower site, where over 100 workers remain stranded. Army spokesman Raja Basnet said helicopters were struggling to locate tunnel entrances due to thick fog and debris.

Buddha Tamang, a worker at another dam site, survived by taking shelter inside a tunnel during the flood. “The senior officers working on the other side, they were all swept away,” he told reporters after being airlifted to safety.

Seven bodies have been recovered downstream in India’s Bihar state, believed to be victims carried by the swollen rivers from Nepal.

As rescue efforts continue, authorities are coordinating cross-border support to prevent disease outbreaks and restore access to the hardest-hit zones. The disaster has exposed vulnerabilities in Himalayan hydropower projects and pilgrimage routes, raising concerns about future risks amid rapid glacial melt and climate change.

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