People at the flood-affected Beni Ghat area, in Dhading district, Nepal, on Wednesday, August 26. PTI
LIVE | Nepal floods: Toll crosses 350 amid fresh flood warning alert
Over 1,000 people, including 250 Indians, remain missing; a collapsed glacier, not an earthquake, triggered the flash flood, says US Geological Survey
The death toll in the massive flash floods in Nepal rose to over 350, leaving scores, including security personnel and foreign tourists, missing, and sweeping away properties in one of the country’s worst disasters in recent years. At least 1,000 people are missing, including 250 from India.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have warned that a large barrier lake near the confluence of the Chhochen Khola and Purepu Tsangpo rivers in Nepal could breach within 72 hours.
China's Ministry of Water Resources issued the warning. According to state broadcaster China Central Television, the ministry said the lake held an estimated 2 million cubic meters of water by Thursday morning and had already begun overflowing.
With another 3 million cubic meters expected to flow in over the next three days, officials warned of a high risk of danger.
What caused the massive floods?
Scientists now believe a collapsed glacier, rather than an earthquake-triggered landslide, was behind the devastating flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border that has killed at least 177 people, the BBC has reported.
Early reports suggesting a tremor had set off a landslide, which then caused the flood, have since been revised. The US Geological Survey clarified that the disaster stemmed from a glacial collapse — an event in which all or part of a glacier breaks apart. The force generated when the falling ice struck the valley floor was so intense that it registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event on USGS instruments, according to data reviewed by scientists studying the disaster.
University of Dundee glacier researcher Simon Cook told the BBC that his team had traced the collapse to the lower section of a glacier near Nepal's Langtang Lirung peak, roughly 15km (9 miles) west of where the floodwaters struck. He believes the ice broke away and moved in a northwesterly direction before shifting westward as it travelled downstream.
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Live Updates
- 27 Aug 2026 10:25 AM IST
Glacial collapse triggered Nepal flash floods, not earthquake: USGS
The Nepal flash floods were triggered by a glacial collapse and not by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake as reported earlier, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The USGS said additional analysis of the long-period seismic waves indicated that the tremors were generated by a glacial collapse and debris flow.
The flash floods originating in Tibet on Wednesday left a trail of death and destruction in Rasuwa and Dhading districts of Nepal, killing 162 people and leaving 750, including 133 Indian nationals, missing.
“This event was initially reported as a magnitude 4.4 earthquake. Additional analysis of nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves, and satellite imagery led to the determination that the seismic event was instead a glacial collapse and debris flow, and that no earthquake had occurred,” the USGS said in an update to its note on the event.
It also upgraded the magnitude of the seismic event to 5.2 from the 4.4 assessed earlier.
“The USGS determined that the seismic event was a glacial collapse and debris flow that caused subsequent catastrophic impacts downstream,” it said.
Daniel Shugar, an Associate Professor of geomorphology at the University of Calgary in Canada said the flash floods were triggered by a glacier that rolled off a cliff at 5,200 meters.
Shugar compared the satellite images of the region taken on Wednesday and Tuesday, a day before the natural disaster struck Nepal.
“Comparing satellite imagery from yesterday and today, the glaciers in the vicinity do seem to have lost a fair bit of snow in the last 24 hours,” Shugar was quoted as saying by the New Scientist magazine.
“My guess is that snow melt, and glacier ice melt as well, injected a lot of liquid water into the glacier, which percolated down to the bed and lubricated it. That was enough for it to collapse,” he said.
- 27 Aug 2026 10:22 AM IST
177 Indians missing
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 177 Indians are missing in the floods.
- 27 Aug 2026 9:59 AM IST
Sadhguru says 80 Isha pilgrims missing in Tibet after flash flood
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the founder of Isha Foundation, urged authorities to allow him and other volunteers to be at Cyirong (Gyirong) in Tibet to find the 80 pilgrims who went missing after the flash floods which have hit three districts of Nepal bordering Tibet.
In an earlier post on X, Sadhguru had said that one of Isha’s Kailash groups was caught up in the flash floods in Tibet while they were at the immigration office on their way back to India.
Sadhguru's Appeal to the Authorities & Administration. pic.twitter.com/wKu89gtdnU
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) August 27, 2026 - 27 Aug 2026 9:55 AM IST
Over 550 missing after mudslide in Tibet
As many as 588 people are reportedly missing in China's Tibet autonomous region after a massive mudslide hit a border area with Nepal, official media reported on Thursday.
Two local villagers have been rescued so far, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday updating the casualty figures.
According to the report, the mudslide, which occurred on the Nepalese side, struck Gyirong Port in Gyirong County in Tibet on Wednesday morning.
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday ordered all-out efforts to search for and rescue people missing after devastating flash floods swept through villages and towns near the China-Nepal border area in Tibet, causing heavy casualties.
The mudslide left three people dead and 588 others missing, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
- 27 Aug 2026 9:50 AM IST
UP tourists return home after Nepal floods
Indian tourists stranded in Nepal after the flash floods returned to India via the Sonauli border in Uttar Pradesh.
VIDEO | Maharajganj: Tourists are returning to Uttar Pradesh through Sonauli Border following floods in Nepal.#NepalFlood pic.twitter.com/BZziYEPXSP
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 27, 2026 - 27 Aug 2026 9:42 AM IST
Odisha govt sets up 24x7 Control Room, shares numbers
In view of the flood situation in Nepal, the Odisha government has set up a 24x7 Control Room at Odisha Niwas, New Delhi, to provide necessary assistance to people from the state in distress.
Here are the phone numbers: Mob: +91-7428135044/ 8527580245; Landline: 011-23012807
- 27 Aug 2026 9:40 AM IST
32-member Kolkata group among many from Bengal untraceable
A 32-member group from Kolkata on the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra was among many from West Bengal, who went untraceable after the flash floods in Nepal, an official said.
The group, comprising 30 tourists and two tour managers, left the city on August 21 and reached Nepal the following day, he said.
The group reached Rasuwagadhi on Wednesday morning to cross into Tibet. Its members were at the immigration office around 8.30 am when the flash flood struck the area along the Nepal-Tibet border, he added.
"There has been no communication with any of the 32 members since the flash flood struck the area. We are trying to establish contact with all those from West Bengal who may have been in the affected areas," he said.
The situation on the ground is extremely difficult, and communication has been disrupted, the official said.
- 27 Aug 2026 9:39 AM IST
Karnataka govt seeks info on residents stranded in Nepal, Tibet
The Karnataka government has sought information on people from the state who are currently stranded in Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) following severe flash floods and related disruptions along the border region and adjoining areas.
The Revenue Department’s Secretariat of Disaster Management, in a post on ‘X’, said it was collecting details of those stranded to facilitate coordination of rescue, evacuation and other necessary assistance.
“Stranded persons, relatives and tour operators are requested to provide details through the Google Form,” it said.
The information will help the state government coordinate with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Embassy of India in Nepal and the Embassy of India in Beijing, it said.
People seeking assistance have been asked to contact the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) at 1070 or 080-22253707.
The Google Form has been issued under the signature of Manoj Kumar Meena, IAS, Relief Commissioner/Secretary, Revenue (Disaster Management), Government of Karnataka.
