Nepal Flash Floods Kill At Least 95 People And Have Left Hundreds Of Foreign Tourists Missing

A catastrophic flash flood swept through villages in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts Wednesday morning after an ice rock avalanche from a glacier on the Nepal side of the Himalayas blocked the Bhotekoshi River, a tributary of the Trishuli, and then released with devastating force.

At least 95 people have been confirmed dead in Nepal and three more in China's Tibet region, with the death toll expected to rise significantly. Hundreds are still missing.

The disaster has also affected the Gyirong Port area on the China-Nepal border, a key crossing for trade and tourism.

Among the missing are 384 tourists, 291 of them international visitors from India, the United States, Britain and Malaysia, who were in the area when the wall of water hit. Video circulating on social media shows a tsunami-like surge of brown water engulfing buildings near the border crossing as people run for their lives.

Nepalese Army helicopters have been rescuing survivors from rooftops, with footage showing people covered in mud being winched up from the debris. Nepal's government has asked both India and China for emergency rescue assistance.

The Bhotekoshi flooded around 9 AM Wednesday, destroying villages, roads, bridges and six major hydropower facilities, cutting off power supply to parts of the region. Officials warned residents to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers.

The same stretch of river flooded in June 2025 when a similar glacial lake outburst damaged the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge and killed eight people. Scientists have been warning that melting Himalayan glaciers are making these outburst floods more frequent and more severe as temperatures rise.

Nepal's young Prime Minister Balen Shah, the 36-year-old rapper-turned-politician who took office five months ago after a Gen Z-led anti-corruption movement swept away the country's established parties, had not yet commented publicly as of Wednesday afternoon. The disaster will be an early defining test of his government.