‘The flood took everything I have’: survivors grieve for relatives and homes swept away in Nepal

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Gaurav Pokharel in Bidur. Photographs and video by Ahmer Khan

28 August 2026 at 21:22

Army helicopters ferry survivors from inaccessible areas to a camp at a barracks in Bidur

The three women sat together in the army tent and wept. They cried out for their sons, their husbands, their homes. As flash floods coursed through the Himalayan mountains on Wednesday morning, a monstrous black wave took everything from them.

As a melting glacier high up in the Himalayas between Tibet and Nepal splintered and crashed into the valley below, it set off a deadly cascade of water, mud and debris down the Bhote Koshi River. The impact of the glacier collapse was so strong that experts initially reported it as an earthquake. The Nepali village homes that lined the riverbank and clung to the mountainside stood little chance.

On the ground in Nepal after deadly flash floods – video

The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen · Ahmer Khan · Mathilde Poncet and Augusta Anthony

28 August 2026 at 17:28

South Asia correspondent Hannah Ellis‑Petersen is on the ground in Bidur, one of the most devastated towns in Nepal, after the deadly flash floods that struck on Wednesday morning. Most homes were completely washed away when a tide of mud, rocks and debris flooded the river valley. Those who survived describe clinging on to buildings and trees as the water rushed over them

Chinese control of information hampers assessment of Tibet flood damage

World news | The Guardian

By: Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

28 August 2026 at 17:25

Scale of devastation emerges in Nepal as reporters reach disaster area, but Chinese state media focus more on rescue efforts

Nepal-Tibet flash flood – latest updates

In the days since an enormous glacier in the Himalayas snapped away from a mountaintop and cascaded into the valley below, the true scale of the devastation caused by the flash floods in Nepal and Tibet is still unfolding.

But the picture is emerging far more quickly in Nepal than in China, where strict controls on the flow of information from one of its most sensitive regions are hampering the public’s understanding of events.

Families of 33 missing Britons rush to Nepal as fears grow of more floods

World news | The Guardian

By: Rachel Hall and Nadeem Badshah

28 August 2026 at 18:44

Desperate relatives trying to reach loved ones last seen in area where entire villages have been swept away

Families are rushing to Nepal to search for the 33 British nationals who are still missing, as fears mount over the risk of a second wave of flooding in the region.

The catastrophic flash floods that hit Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, thundering down valleys and sweeping away entire villages, have killed at least 538 people, while more than 1,500 remain missing.

Nepal-Tibet flood rescue efforts resume after being halted by overflowing lake

World news | The Guardian

By: Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Bidur · Sam Jones and agencies

28 August 2026 at 13:17

Risk of fresh flooding had forced rescue teams to withdraw as residents rushed up hills to escape possible river surge

Rescuers searching for survivors of deadly flash floods on the Nepal-Tibet border have resumed their efforts after suspending operations when a debris dam burst its bank on Friday, increasing the risk of fresh flooding.

Residents in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, on the border with Tibet, were seen rushing up hillsides ⁠on Friday to escape a possible surge in the river, ⁠according to witnesses. Fears of another flood came as authorities in Nepal and China said that at least 543 people had been killed in the disaster.

Search continues as number missing in Nepal-Tibet floods rises to 2,478 – as it happened

World news | The Guardian

By: Wendy Frew · Lucy Campbell, Keely Aouga, Nadeem Badshah, Tom Ambrose, Mabel Banfield-Nwachi, Taz Ali and Adam Fulton

29 August 2026 at 06:49

This live blog is now closed

More now on the Nepali army’s rescue operation to save about 100 people trapped in a tunnel at a hydropower project swamped by Wednesday’s flooding.

“Two helicopters have been dispatched but it is challenging because it is tough to even locate the entry points of the tunnel,” army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told AFP.

Relief efforts are also under way to provide the rescued people what they need.

The army is still working to safely evacuate more than 100 people trapped in the same tunnel.

At least 160 killed and hundreds missing after flash floods destroy roads and buildings in Nepal and China

PBS News Hour - The Latest

By: Niranjan Shrestha, Associated Press · Sibi Arasu, Associated Press

26 August 2026 at 16:58

Massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed at least 98 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in some areas to a halt.

Reading view