At least 75 killed and hundreds missing after flash floods in Nepal and China

Rescuers use an earthmover to carry a victim of flash flooding to safety along the Trishuli River in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. Niranjan Shrestha/AP hide caption

UDIN DHUNGA, Nepal — Massive flash floods in a border area of Nepal and China on Wednesday killed at least 75 people and left hundreds of tourists, workers and others missing after sweeping through communities and bringing travel in parts of the Himalayan country to a halt.

Officials in Nepal said 403 people, including 341 foreign nationals were reported missing. Sunil Sharma, a Nepal Tourism Board spokesperson, said 133 missing were from India on pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in China's autonomous region of Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus. Also missing were 47 from the United States, 34 from Australia, 33 from the Britain and 24 from Canada, he said, adding that people from at least 26 countries had been present in the affected area.

At least 62 missing Nepali citizens were among hundreds of locals trekking in the Gosaikunda lake in Rasuwa, coinciding with the Nepali festival of Janai Purnima on Friday, Sharma added.

China's state broadcaster CCTV said a mudslide in Tibet's Gyirong County near Nepal killed at least three people and left 265 missing, based on a preliminary count.

Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle, who gave the local death toll, also told The Associated Press that at least 28 police officials were among the missing.

Officials warned residents in several of Nepal's districts to stay away from the banks of the Bhotekoshi, Trishuli and Narayani rivers. The Bhotekoshi flooded around 9 a.m. Wednesday, destroying several villages, roads and hydropower projects, officials said.

People take photographs and videos of the swollen, debris-choked banks of the Trishuli River after a flash floods in Nepal's Nuwakot district on Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026. Niranjan Shrestha/AP hide caption