Rescuers are continuing efforts to locate more than 1,500 missing people, among them hundreds of foreign tourists, after a deadly flood killed at least 270 people on the Nepal-Tibet border. Satellite images taken before and after the flooding show the scale of the destruction, with entire settlements vanished under mud, water, and rock.
A massive mudslide struck Gyirong Port on the China-Nepal border, with CCTV footage showing a wall of debris slamming through the crossing in seconds, tossing vehicles and buses.
Nepal reports at least 8-16 dead with hundreds of travelers listed as missing, including 291… pic.twitter.com/ZXfDIUaGsC
— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 26, 2026
Who’s Missing
Nepal’s disaster management authority announced Thursday that 823 people remain unaccounted for, more than 24 hours after the disaster struck. In China, 558 people are missing, including 260 foreign nationals. In Nepal, 468 tourists, 393 of them foreigners, remain unaccounted for, according to the country’s Ministry of Tourism.
Among the missing foreigners are 142 Indian nationals, along with citizens of Britain, Malaysia, Australia, the Netherlands, the United States, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, and Ukraine. Australia reported 34 of its citizens missing, Japan 5, Ukraine 53, and South Korea 9.
🇨🇳🇳🇵 Update on what happened in Nepal
– 19 bridges and 40 km of roads swept away.
– 13 hydroelectric projects in the region damaged.
– More than 200 trucks swept away
– The number of victims is not yet available.
– India and China have offered assistance.
– The government of…— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) August 26, 2026
Nepal Flood pic.twitter.com/aE4XWwMZTC
— Philosophical Takes (@CannotArgueThis) August 27, 2026
See the way this flood in Nepal moved a bridge 👀 pic.twitter.com/77992pD2QS
— Emeka United (@Emeka2026) August 27, 2026
Survivor Accounts
“I started running. Then a wall of water crashed down, like an earthquake,” said Bibek Kumal, a worker in the hard-hit Rasuwa area near the border. He grabbed a tree and held on until the worst of the surge passed. “If it weren’t for that tree, I would have been swept away and died,” he told The Guardian.
68-year-old Kesav Prasad Baral described trying to save his wife by climbing with her onto their roof. “I tried to grab my wife’s hand and pull her onto the roof. But the mud swept her away,” he said. He was airlifted out four or five hours later. “My wife is still down there somewhere under the mud. She’s gone.”
An elderly woman was rescued alive in Nuwakot after being trapped in thick mud, pulled to safety by an excavator operator and rescue workers as floodwaters and debris swept through.
So many buried under these bubbles, the flood was a disaster in Nepal . https://t.co/QWf6LR1tMu
— Emeka United (@Emeka2026) August 27, 2026
Terrifying new video shows a flash flood tearing through a village on the Nepal–Tibet border, giving residents just seconds to run for cover as people desperately flee the approaching flood. pic.twitter.com/GzE2URICX2
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) August 27, 2026
“Entire Villages Have Disappeared”
David Fisher, an official with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Nepal, said “entire villages and market areas have disappeared.” The organization is distributing blankets, medical kits, stretchers, and body bags to affected communities.
International Response
More than 800 rescue personnel, 150 vehicles, specially trained dogs, and small boats have been deployed to the area, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua. Chinese President Xi Jinping called the search and rescue effort the “absolute priority,” urging the evacuation of residents at risk and treatment of the injured.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said UN teams and partner organizations are mobilizing staff and supplies to support those affected, while the United States announced $500,000 in emergency aid.
With hundreds of families still waiting for news of their loved ones, authorities warn the full scale of the tragedy has yet to be revealed.
