Floodwaters surged through the northern river valleys of Nepal on Wednesday morning, inundating settlements and prompting Nepalese soldiers to launch urgent rescue operations for missing individuals.
Rescue teams recovered eight fatalities and saved 24 individuals from various sites, according to Abi Narayan Kafle, spokesperson for the Nepal Police. Additional persons remain missing, including personnel from four Nepali police posts and customs officials at the border with China, he added.
Numerous residents inhabit riverside communities downstream of the deluge. Authorities have not yet quantified the missing persons or the full extent of property damage, though they confirmed that bridges, schools, and hydropower facilities have been destroyed.
The Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal reported that 14 hydropower projects—including five currently under construction—have been impacted.
Narendra Priyar, chief district officer of Rasuwa—one of the hardest‑hit areas—said, “There was no rainfall in Nepal, so we were not expecting such an event.”
On the Tibetan side of the Nepal‑China border, mudslides have left residents missing in Gyirong. Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a statement emphasizing the importance of flood prevention, and other members of Beijing’s Politburo Standing Committee echoed the call.
State‑run Chinese television broadcast drone footage showing buildings buried at Gyirong port, a key trading hub on the international border.
Additional floodwater has continued down the Bhotekoshi River into Nepal’s Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts. The most recent flash flood on the Bhotekoshi, occurring last year, was attributed to a glacial lake outburst.
These events are termed GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods) and have increased in frequency as climate change intensifies and Himalayan snowmelt patterns become more erratic.
Nepali Army‑led security teams are conducting rescue operations, having deployed 12 helicopters, established a temporary field hospital in the affected zone, and begun evacuating seriously injured individuals to Kathmandu.
The government convened an emergency cabinet meeting, pledging to prioritize rescue efforts and offer free medical treatment to all those affected.
Nepal’s Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel stated that the nation has appealed to its powerful neighbours, China and India, for assistance in strengthening rescue operations.
