Glacial Collapse Triggered Deadly Nepal-Tibet Floods
The devastating floods that swept through the Nepal-Tibet border region this week, leaving hundreds of foreign nationals missing, were triggered by a glacial collapse, according to the US Geological Survey, not an earthquake as authorities initially believed.
The USGS says a glacier, or part of one, disintegrated near the border, unleashing floodwaters that cascaded down mountain gorges and swept into Nepal’s Trishuli river valley on Wednesday. The initial landslide near the border also triggered a mudslide that struck China’s Gyirong Port, a major land crossing.
The exact cause of the glacial collapse has not yet been determined. However, scientists have repeatedly warned that Himalayan glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate due to rising temperatures linked to climate change, a trend that has raised long-standing concern about the growing risk of sudden, catastrophic glacial events across the region.
The floods devastated communities along the Trishuli river in Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading districts, home to more than half a million people, including the Tamang, Gurung, and Newar ethnic groups. Many residents rely on agriculture, though the region has also become a popular hub for trekking, rafting, and religious pilgrimage, with hundreds of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Bonpo pilgrims passing through the area each summer en route to Tibet’s Mount Kailash.
These communities were already considered among Nepal’s most vulnerable, with high poverty rates and heightened exposure to climate-driven disasters such as landslides and forest fires. Many residents had spent years rebuilding after Nepal’s 2015 earthquake, which killed more than 8,000 people, before resettling on the low-lying riverbanks now devastated by this week’s floods.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, at least 517 foreign nationals are missing in Nepal, including 178 Indian nationals, 53 Ukrainians, 51 Malaysians, 35 Australians, 33 British nationals, and 25 Canadians, along with smaller numbers from more than two dozen other countries. The US State Department confirmed 90 Americans are also missing. On the Chinese side of the border, state media reports at least 260 foreign nationals among 558 people unaccounted for.
Rescue efforts were ongoing Thursday, though officials had not yet released the names of those confirmed dead or still missing.
Hundreds Missing After Flash Floods Kill at Least 157 in Nepal