Glacier Collapse Floods the Nepal-Tibet Border, Killing Hundreds
Wednesday's flash flood swept away villages in northern Nepal. Hundreds are dead and about 1,500 missing, and officials warn a new debris-dammed lake could burst.
A flash flood caused by the collapse of a high-altitude glacier swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region on Wednesday, August 26, burying villages in water, ice, rock and mud. By Friday, August 28, the death toll had climbed to at least 469 in Nepal, with at least three people killed in Tibet and nearly 1,500 still missing, according to Business Standard and AFP; the toll rose quickly as rescuers reached affected areas, including towns along the Trishuli River in Nuwakot district.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the flood was set off by a glacial collapse, which also registered as seismic activity, and China said the collapse of a glacier in Nepal may have triggered the disaster. The debris left behind formed a new lake held back by an unstable natural dam, and authorities in Kathmandu and Beijing issued fresh flood warnings for communities downstream.
Correction, Aug. 30, 2026. Update: The death toll rose to about 750 by August 30, with some 3,000 people missing, and the Red Cross estimated that more than 90,000 people were affected, Reuters reported.
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