Kathmandu [Nepal], August 27 (ANI): At least 157 people have been killed, and nearly 400 remain missing after devastating flash floods struck Nepal's Bhotekoshi river on Wednesday, with foreign nationals and security personnel among those unaccounted for, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The mid-morning flash flood wreaked havoc across three districts, sweeping away people, homes, vehicles and critical infrastructure in one of Nepal's deadliest disasters in recent years.
According to CNN, citing the Nepalese police post on X, at least 157 people have died in the devastating flash floods.
रसुवा जिल्लामा आएको बाढी अपडेट: मितिः २०८३/०५/१० गते २३:०५ बजेसम्म pic.twitter.com/iyQERlaMxO
— Nepal Police (@NepalPoliceHQ) August 26, 2026
The flood was caused after an avalanche blocked the flow of the Lhende tributary of the Bhotekoshi and struck Timure, near Nepal's border with China at Rasuwagadhi. The water then surged downstream towards Syaphrubesi and other settlements, The Kathmandu Post reported.
With no rainfall reported in the area, residents had no warning before the flood struck.
A statement from Nepal's Prime Minister's Office said hundreds of people, including 391 foreigners and 44 security personnel, have gone missing, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The floods also caused extensive damage to infrastructure. Nine hydropower projects and nine branches of commercial banks were destroyed, while 19 motorable bridges and around 40 kilometres of highway were swept away, according to a preliminary assessment cited by The Kathmandu Post.
Meanwhile, India has begun mobilising humanitarian assistance for Nepal amid the ongoing relief efforts.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India's humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) and medical assistance had reached Kathmandu.
Jaishankar, in a post on X, said, "India's HADR and medical assistance has reached Kathmandu. More assistance is being mobilised to support relief efforts."
India’s HADR and medical assistance has reached Kathmandu.
More assistance is being mobilised to support relief efforts.
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According to an earlier X post by EAM Jaishankar, India has dispatched 10 tonnes of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) along with essential medicines to support Nepal.
The C130J deployed by the Indian Air Force for the relief efforts is carrying 10 tonnes of relief material to Nepal. This includes emergency items such as temporary shelters, blankets, hygiene kits, solar lamps, and medicines.
Officials at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in Nepal said that an ice avalanche and the subsequent formation and bursting of a debris lake may have triggered the sudden flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa, according to the Kathmandu Post.
In a translated post on X, Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said, "An initial study based on the analysis of satellite images by Planet Labs indicates that a glacier-inclusive flood occurred in the Lhende River due to a snow-rock landslide that took place on the Nepal-China border approximately 20 kilometres northeast of the Nepal-China Rasuwagadhi border crossing."
However, Shanti Mahat, spokesperson for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said the agency had also received preliminary information that an ice avalanche had blocked a river. The information was shared through the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, which obtained it from sources in China, as reported by the Kathmandu Post.
"We have not received any official information yet," Mahat said. "But ICIMOD has shared the information it received from the other side with us. This is only an initial assessment. We are focused on rescue and relief efforts for now. The cause will become clearer gradually."
The scale of those missing has raised concerns that Wednesday's floods could rank among the deadliest disasters in Nepal's modern history, The Kathmandu Post reported. (ANI)
