Tragic Devastation Unfolds as Death Toll Surpasses 500 Following Catastrophic Floods on Nepal-Tibet Border

Two heart-broken brothers have shared their harrowing stories of loss after devastating floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border, leaving more than 500 people dead. According to the Red Cross, over 90,000 people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance as aid officials warn of the looming threat of further flooding.

“The flood took my wife and child. It took everyone,” Girilal Budhathoki told The National from a hospital providing critical care to disaster victims. Sitting beside him at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj, his brother Newall admitted he no longer wanted to live after losing his loved ones in the disaster, recalling that there was no chance to save anyone because nobody knew the flood was coming.

Rescuers are actively searching for survivors across the valleys and hillsides of Nepal. Nepal Police reported that 547 people are confirmed dead, more than 1,400 are injured, and over 1,000 remain missing in the Himalayan country and neighbouring China after a wall of ice, mud, and rock collapsed into a mountain river, triggering a catastrophic flash flood. More than 4,000 police personnel are currently responding to the crisis, utilizing helicopters to search for survivors and drop emergency supplies to isolated towns and valleys cut off by the disaster, which swept away a major road linking Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Newall, who was eventually evacuated by helicopter due to destroyed roads, joined many others searching for missing relatives at hospitals like Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and the National Trauma Centre in Mahankal. Doctors at the National Trauma Centre reported treating patients for broken arms, spinal injuries, and other trauma as rescue teams continued reaching communities isolated by washed-out bridges and roads.

The disaster followed intense heavy rainfall that caused the Trishuli river to rise by as much as nine metres in just 30 minutes, destroying dozens of bridges and leaving helicopters as one of the few viable methods to evacuate the injured and deliver essential supplies as ambulances and families searching for missing loved ones filled Kathmandu.